When the summer comes around, all the big action movies head for cinemas, causing pretty much every other movie to run for cover (largely because there aren’t many cinema screens left). As a result, Star Trek Into Darkness was the only new entrant into the US box office top 10, taking $84 million since its opening last Thursday.
That’s roughly in line with what JJ Abrams first Star Trek movie took when it opened in 2009. While it’s a fairly big haul, many are still seeing it as a disappointment, as many had expected to open in the $100 million range. However it’s doing better overseas, so is still likely to end up grossing a fair amount more that the earlier movie overall.
It’s also going to face a challenge keeping its US gross up in the coming weeks, with competition such as Hangover III and Face & Furious 6 heading into cinemas in the next few days.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of May 17th-19th.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | Star Trek Into Darkness | $70.5 | $84.0 |
| 2 | Iron Man 3 | $35.1 | $337.0 |
| 3 | The Great Gatsby | $23.4 | $90.1 |
| 4 | Pain And Gain | $3.1 | $46.5 |
| 5 | The Croods | $2.7 | $176.7 |
| 6 | 42 | $2.7 | $88.7 |
| 7 | Oblivion | $2.2 | $85.5 |
| 8 | Mud | $2.1 | $11.5 |
| 9 | Tyler Perry Presents Peeples | $2.1 | $7.8 |
| 10 | The Big Wedding | $1.1 | $20.1 |
There’s been a fair amount of uncertainty about how well The Great Gatsby would do, with some wondering whether there was room for it in the usually action-heavy summer release schedule. However it’s done far better than many expected, taking $51 million in its first weekend at the US box office.
The money men at Disney/Marvel will be rubbing their hands in glee this morning, as if they were worried about the hundreds of millions they’ve already poured into the post-Avengers movies, Iron Man 3 has resolutely proved audiences are keen to continue watching the superhero adventures.
Michael Bay has proved he can still pull in the punters away from massive robots, as his Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg starrer, Pain And Gain, topped the US box office with $20 million in its first weekend. Although that’s a lot less than Bay’s Transformers movies opened to, that’s only to be expected from an R-rated thriller with a dash of comedy. And as it only cost $26 million to make, it’s likely headed for a healthy profit.
Michael Bay is leaving behind giant special effects and explosions for Pain & Gain, his new thriller starring Dwayne Johnson & Mark Wahlberg. However it appears the director still wants a bit of a ‘go USA’ backdrop, literally, as this new poster sees his stars (but not stripes) in front of an American flag.
Is Michael Bay’s tendency to cast inexperienced female actresses allowing young people a chance, or pure sexism assuming that a pretty face is more important than genuine talent?