Tagged: Star Trek

Angels and Demons barely edges Star Trek

With an estimated $48 million three-day take, Angels and Demons, the prequel to the Ron Howard-directed, Tom Hanks-starring DaVinci Code, just barely took top honors at the box office this weekend, despite deep protests from the Catholic church over the movies “historical distortions.”

Coming in a close second place, Star Trek managed $43 million in its second week of release, bringing its total to date to over $147 million. Third place was Marvel Entertainment’s merry mutant slice-fest, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which drew a meager $14.8 million in its third week, finally topping $150 million to enter profit mode, but Star Trek is breathing on Wolverine’s heels and is expected to overtake the superhero flick in the coming week.

If that isn’t appetite suppressant enough for you, perhaps this’ll do the trick: no other movie even came close to topping $10 million in box office. Things should heat up considerably next weekend, however, as both Night At the Museum: Showdown at the Smithsonian and Terminator Salvation are scheduled to open, with Terminator Salvation expected to open huge.

Adamantium action worth $85 million to open

Marvel Comics’ first X-Men spinoff movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, enjoyed a healthy $85 million opening weekend against a $150 million production budget, meaning the film made more than half of its budget back in the first weekend, usually a sign of a successful run. The Hugh Jackman vehicle was, of course, the top draw of the weekend.

Coming in a very distant second was Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with $15.4 million, also in its debut weekend, and second-week underdog thriller Obsessed with $12 million. No other movie even came close to cracking the $10 million barrier.

The mutant drama will receive major competition in its second weekend, however, as the much-anticipated J.J. Abrams redeux on the Star Trek franchise takes its opening bow in what is anticipated to be the first film of the summer season to top $100 million in its opening weekend… anything less would probably disappoint.

Angels and Demons opens the week after that, followed by Terminator Salvation, before May closes out with the debut of the animated family film, Up, so hold off on the birth announcements until at least Terminator Salvation has made its opening bow, OK? May looks to be a hot month for movies.