Not surprisingly, Paramount’s ‘Star Trek Beyond’ took the top spot, but surprisingly came in well below the two previous ‘Trek’ films.  2009’s ‘Star Trek’ scored $75M in its first weekend, while 2013’s ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ fell short of that with an opening weekend take of $70M.  ‘Beyond’, which welcomed aboard new director Justin Lin, took in a respectable, $59.6M but it’s a little surprising considering that ‘Into Darkness’ was largely panned, while ‘Beyond’ had gotten mostly positive reviews.

Looking at the ‘Star Trek’ movie brand as a whole, ‘Beyond’ actually has the second lowest opening ever, topping just the 2002 flop ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’.  Hopefully, the positive buzz will help it out over the coming weeks, but it’s summer and the competition is fierce.  ‘Jason Bourne’ and ‘Suicide Squad’ are arriving in the coming weeks which may take a hefty bite out of this film.

Even so, $59.6M isn’t a flop, so there may be hope.

‘Ghostbusters’ dropped a reasonable 53% taking in $21.6M to land at #3.  It looks as if at the very least the film will break even.  (Its budget was $144M).  However, Sony was hoping to kick start a new franchise with this film and that looks bleak at this point.

Tying for #3, New Line/Warner Brothers’ low-budget horror flick ‘Light Out’ more than made back its $4.9M budget, also raking in a healthy $21.6M, so expect about seven more of these films in the coming years.

‘Ice Age: Collision Course’ followed the lead of ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’, taking in a measly $21M, the first time a film in the franchise has opened to less than $41M, proving that American audiences are wearing of these time worn animated franchises.  It’s already made back its budget overseas, though, so it’s far from a flop for 20th Century Fox.

1. Star Trek Beyond (Paramount) – $59.6M2. The Secret Life of Pets (Universal) – $29.3M3. & 4. Ghostbusters (Sony) – $21.6M / Lights Out (Warner Brothers) – $21.6M (tie)*
5. Ice Age: Collision Course (20th Century Fox) – $21M

These numbers are projections, so by Monday afternoon there may be a clear winner between ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Lights Out’, but the race is pretty close.

‘Star Trek’ may be in trouble when Matt Damon returns to the role of ‘Jason Bourne’ next weekend.  Also opening is comedy ‘Bad Moms’.

Check back to see how things turn out!

Sources: ComScore, Entertainment Weekly