Star Trek Beyond

Well, it seems that Paramount is trying to spin some disappointing news for the new ‘Star Trek Beyond‘ film, which has failed to go beyond its predecessors in terms of box-office success so far. Though the film did manage to bring in an impressive $59 million over its opening weekend domestically, that number was behind the opening week gross for ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Trek Into Darkness,’ which is sure to be disappointing for the studio. Combine that with the fact that internationally the film has only brought in about $30 million, and you can see why some over at Paramount might be worrying. True, it did not release in all international markets yet, including the all-important Chinese market, but still, the numbers are hardly what they would have expected for the 50th Anniversary film of a very prominent franchise.

So how is Paramount spinning the news? According to a recent interview with Deadline in which the studio was asked for a reason for the middling success of the film in the European market, Paramount cited a massive heat wave across the continent as the primary reason that people have not been going to see the film. Which to me, is a terrible excuse, as a heatwave sounds like an ideal time for people to go out and see a movie, especially since almost all theaters are air-conditioned and out of the sun. But I could be mistaken, maybe the theater experience is different in Europe.

Still, Paramount does not have much to worry about, as they still have the Chinese market to release to, as well as other lucrative markets like France, Korea, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Japan, and across Latin America. Whether ‘Star Trek Beyond’ will rival the $467.4 million that ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ managed to pull in is yet to be determined, but the numbers should be enough to justify ‘Star Trek 4,’ rumors of which have already been swirling, especially the one about the return of Chris Hemsworth as Kirk’s father. 

What are your thoughts on ‘Star Trek Beyond’ and its low numbers on opening weekend? Do you think the shoddy marketing campaign hurt it that much? Were people uninterested because of how ‘Into Darkness’ was received? Share your opinions in the comments below!

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Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.