As expected, Star Trek annihilated the weekend, racking in $72.5 million. It’s the biggest opening in the history of the Star Trek franchise and and the second biggest opening of 2009 (X-Men Origins: Wolverine being number one). According to Entertainment Weekly:

Considering all the hype and buzz and strong reviews that Star Trek has garnered, it’s no surprise that this film’s opening sum is by far the biggest of any Star Trek movie: Of the nine previous flicks in the franchise, 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact bowed best, with (only) $30.7 mil over three days. Moreover, a look at the movie’s CinemaScore report card reveals some potentially good news. While it drew an expected crowd mostly comprised of older males, Star Trek’s solid-A grade shows that word of mouth could be strong enough to bring in fans outside of the franchise’s usual demographic (i.e. people who weren’t alive in the 1980s…and women) as the weeks go on.

Obsessed managed to stay in the top four.  Benny Boom’s Next Day Air, the only other mainstream movie that opened this weekend was at #6 with 4 million.  Here is the complete list:

1. Star Trek, $72.5 million
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine, $27 million
3. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, $10.5 million
4. Obsessed, $6.6 million
5. 17 Again, $4.4 million
6. Next Day Air, $4 million
7. The Soloist, $3.6 million
8. Monsters vs. Aliens, $3.4 million
9. Earth, $2.5 million
10. Hannah Montana: The Movie, $2.4 million

What movie did you check out this weekend?

Summary: The 2009 version of Star Trek presents the back-story of the legendary sci-fi characters: Captain Kirk, Spock, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and more. Beginning at Starfleet Academy, the film follows the younger version of the sci-fi icons as students who join the Enterprise in order to stop the evil Romulans from destroying planet Vulcan and Earth.

Review: Star Trek marks the eleventh film based on the hugely successful franchise, which started from a book and television series in the sixties. Normally, eleven versions equate disaster, but somehow, someway, director J.J. Abrams and the creators of Star Trek managed to pull off the best sci-fi movie since The Matrix.

What makes this version of Star Trek work is not just the perfect casting, immaculate special effects and strong storyline, but the movie manages to stay true to the history of Star Trek. Many times franchises lose the zeal of the original roots. Read the rest of this entry »