Star Trek Beyond soars to top of US weekend box office

[ntscuser]

The Secret Life of Pets falls from No 1 spot as sci-fi adventure takes in $59.6m in North American ticket sales

Star Trek Beyond landed atop the weekend US box office, soaring to $59.6m in North American ticket sales and knocking Universal’s The Secret Life of Pets from the No1 spot, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

Pets was the second-most-popular film at theaters, adding $29.3m to its stellar $260m earnings to date.

Paramount’s Star Trek Beyond is the third film since JJ Abrams rebooted the franchise in 2009. Despite the latest release opening $20m behind 2009’s Star Trek, experts say it’s still promising.

“This is a solid enough debut to tell them there’s still enough interest in Star Trek to keep this franchise alive,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for the box office tracker comScore.

Dergarabedian did not think the film was hurt by the unexpected loss of one of its stars. The actor Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov, was killed in a freak car accident last month.

“The tragic passing of Anton Yelchin made it bittersweet for fans,” Dergarabedian said.

The Secret Life of Pets and Ghostbusters bested the weekend’s other new releases. Warner Bros’ low-budget horror Lights Out tied with Ghostbusters for third place with $21.6m, while Fox’s animated Ice Age: Collision Course debuted with $21m.

Fox Searchlight’s Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie opened outside the top 10 with $1.8m.