Weekend Box Office Report: May 17-19, 2013

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Star Trek into #1!

Director JJ Abrams and his rebooted crew of the USS Enterprise returned for a second trip into the cosmos, beaming STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS right to the top with a $70.5 million opening.

Including its Thursday opening and Wednesday night IMAX screenings, the new 3D TREK's total stands at $84 million (which is right in the range that JoBlo readers predicted in last week's box office poll).

That's probably not quite the Warp Factor that the studio was hoping to hit — not only did it fail to reach a $100 million opening weekend (even with an extra day), but its three-day total came up short of the Abrams' first STAR TREK in 2009 ($75.2M)… and was even less than IRON MAN 3's second weekend. (The movie has been performing reasonably well overseas, taking in over $80M so far.)

While hardcore TREK fans may not have been entirely fulfilled with the sequel's direction (or seemingly pointless pre-release "mystery"), critics and general audiences set their phasers on satisfied (87% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 'A' CinemaScore).  But the word-of-mouth for STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS will need to be particularly strong, considering the serious competition arriving next week (not to mention the movie's near-$200M cost). And with director Abrams now rocketing off to the STAR WARS universe, it remains to be seen if Starfleet's finest ever get called back to active duty.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark is still blasting away at records — IRON MAN 3 collected another $35.1 million in its third week of domestic release, and has also passed the $1 billion mark at the global box office. In fact, the shiny armored superhero is now at #9 on the list of all-time worldwide grosses, nudging past TOY STORY 3 and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST and rapidly approaching THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

With its $337 million US total, IRON MAN 3 is also (domestically) the biggest movie version of any Marvel Comics character outside of shell-head's pals THE AVENGERS and the Sony-held SPIDER-MAN 1 & 2.

Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann's extravagant 3D adaptation of THE GREAT GATSBY came in third with $23.4 million as it approaches the $100 million mark. But in the shadow of Leonardo DiCaprio's opulent parties, everyone else barely registered on the chart — PAIN & GAIN placed fourth with a meager $3.1 million (as it struggles to hit $50M), and Michael Bay's criminal meatheads were followed by the resurging cave-family THE CROODS in fifth with $2.7 million.

On the rest of the list, OBLIVION looks like it will be the third Tom Cruise movie in a row to miss the $100 million mark (he's still a superstar overseas), Matthew McConaughey's drama MUD continues attracting eyeballs on a fraction of the screens of other Top 10 movies, and the comedy TYLER PERRY PRESENTS PEEPLES demonstrates that Perry's fans are apparently more interested in Perry himself being in the movie rather than just his name.

Next weekend brings the long Memorial Day holiday, which features a clash of blockbuster sequels as FAST AND FURIOUS 6 faces off with THE HANGOVER PART III (on Thursday). Fox is hoping to catch the family fallout with their 3D computer-animated fantasy EPIC, while the Linklater/Delpy/Hawke reunion BEFORE MIDNIGHT opens in limited release.

What movie do you plan to see on Memorial Day weekend? VOTE HERE!