'Angels & Demons' beams past 'Star Trek' at box office Read more: "'Angels & Demons' beams past 'Star Trek' at box office"

"Angels & Demons" flew to the top spot at the box office, edging out "Star Trek" with $48 million in ticket sales.

The thriller, adapted from the Dan Brown novel and starring Tom Hanks as Harvard symbologist-turned-Vatican savior, fared less well than Hanks' "The Da Vinci Code," which took in $77.1 million its first weekend in 2006.

Still, even with less-than-stellar reviews, "Angels" toppled "Star Trek," which pulled in $43 million over its second weekend.

Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" locked in the No. 3 spot with $14.8 million in ticket sales.

"Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" conjured up fourth place with a $6.9 million take. "Obsessed," remained a steady earner in fifth place with $4.6 million in sales.

"Angels & Demons" was the only new release, but the weekend remained robust for movies, which have been drawing recession-blind crowds and record-breaking profits that are 16% more than last year.

"We're headed toward a record-breaking summer," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "If you've got a blockbuster in the pipeline, you're very happy. "

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2009/05/18/2009-05-18_demons_take_over_scaring_off_star_trek.html

'Star Trek' breaks Imax record as purists grumble

Imax Corp (IMX.TO) said on Tuesday its "Star Trek" screenings grossed a record $8.5 million during the film's first weekend, even as some purists complained that the company's big screens were not big enough.

The hotly anticipated science fiction movie garnered $79.2 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices over the weekend, and 11 percent of that figure came from Imax screens.

Imax said that was significant because its screens accounted for less than 2 percent of the venues for "Star Trek." The old record of $6.3 million was set by "The Dark Knight" last summer, although that film played on 94 Imax screens, while "Star Trek" beamed in on 138.

The "Star Trek" Imax contribution shows that moviegoers are pleased with the company's theater experience, Chief Executive Richard Gelfond told Reuters.

"There's no indication at all that the word of mouth is anything but positive," he said.

But on Tuesday, the company also faced some criticism from a Hollywood actor who wrote in an expletive-laden blog that he felt cheated when he paid $5 extra to see "Star Trek" in Imax and saw the movie on a smaller-than-expected screen.

"These new 'Imax' theaters are really just nice digital screens with good sound, but they are not Imax, in that they don't have the huge 72-foot (22-metre) gigantic screen which people would expect," said Aziz Ansari, a co-star of the new NBC show "Parks and Recreation."

The actor's comments echoed earlier criticism from purists who say Imax should re-brand its smaller screens in multiplexes to differentiate them from larger Imax screens, found mostly in museums and science centers.

Sizes vary, but a typical Imax multiplex screen could be 28 by 58 feet (8.5 metres by 18 metres) , while a larger Imax screen could be 76 by 97 feet (23 metres by 29.5 metres).

Gelfond countered that Imax has no re-branding plans because "Imax is Imax."

"Does American Airlines brand a (Boeing) 767 (flight) differently than a 727? We wouldn't put our name on it unless it lived up to the 'Wow!' factor and to the Imax brand," he said.

The company has been moving its smaller version of Imax screens into multiplexes for more than five years, and it has 371 screens worldwide, with 250 of those in commercial venues as opposed to museums and science centers, the company said.

Imax screens in multiplexes are always the largest in that venue, and with digital remastering they offer higher picture quality and other enhanced features. "When you go to an Imax theater you get the most immersive film experience on the planet," Gelfond said.

"Star Trek" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc .

http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUKN1234952220090513

'Star Trek' has galactic $72.5 million box office opening

"Star Trek" went where no Trekkie film has gone before, earning $72.5 million in its first weekend in theaters.

The new "Trek" easily topped the previous record opening weekend in the 11-movie series, which was $30.7 million for 1996's "Star Trek: First Contact."

The blockbuster debut is highly logical, as Mr. Spock might say, considering all the hype, buzz and overwhelmingly strong reviews the reboot of the 1960s television series has garnered.

The film, which explores the back stories of Spock, Capt. Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew, was also one of the most favorably reviewed movies of the year.

The fact that box-office sales grew over the weekend from $26.8 million on Friday to $27.4 million on Saturday also shows the movie "is going to have legs, a rare commodity in a world where every week there's a new blockbuster," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

Last week's top film, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," came in at No. 2 with $27 million.

The prequel to the "X-Men" franchise, starring Hugh Jackman as the mutant who slices and dices his enemies with his metal claws, has made nearly $129.6 million in two weeks.

"We think we withstood the attack of 'Star Trek,' if you will, and will settle into a long, successful run," said Chris Aronson of 20th Century Fox.

Other strong holdovers included "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," which was No. 3 with $10.5 million.

"Obsessed" came in No. 4 with $6.6 million, and "17 Again" earned $4.4 million to land in fifth place.

The week's other new wide release, the stoner comedy "Next Day Air," came in at No. 6 with $4 million.

Rounding out the top 10 box-office winners were "The Soloist," which earned seventh place with $3.6 million, and the animated comedy "Monsters vs. Aliens," which scared up $3.4 million in ticket sales for eighth place.

"Earth" was No. 9 with $2.5 million, and "Hannah Montana: The Movie," came in at No. 10 with box-office sales reaching $2.4 million.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2009/05/10/2009-05-10_star_trek_has_galactic_725_million_box_office_opening.html#ixzz0F9ROIxL6&A

`Star Trek' boldly goes to $31M at box office

"Star Trek" has gone to warp speed at the box office with $31 million in domestic ticket sales after just over a day in theaters.

Distributor Paramount said "Star Trek" took in $24 million Friday, plus $7 million during preview screenings Thursday night.

Paramount estimates that by the end of the weekend the movie will be near or over $70 million in ticket sales.

That puts the movie light years ahead of the previous 10 "Trek" movies.

The best opening weekend ever for the franchise was $30.7 million for 1996's "Star Trek: First Contact." According to inflation-adjusted numbers compiled by Hollywood.com, that translates to $51.2 million in today's dollars.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BOX_OFFICE_STAR_TREK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-05-09-15-34-31

"Star Trek" aims to stun fans

When director J.J. Abrams dreamed up the new "Star Trek" movie, he took the prologue to the original television series to mind, and at least one key person approves -- Mr. Logical himself, Spock.

For new "Trekkies" -- and there will likely be many when the movie debuts in U.S. theaters on Friday -- the 1960s TV show started with a prologue about the voyages of the starship Enterprise and its crew that would "boldly go where no (one) has gone before" in the "final frontier" of space.

To reignite the franchise that spawned five TV series and 10 movies over roughly 40 years, Abrams has done exactly that -- gone where no other "Star Trek" storyteller had gone before -- with a tale of how Captain James T. Kirk, Dr. "Bones" McCoy and the Vulcan Mr. Spock came to be shipmates.

But changing the "canon" -- events and characters that shape "Star Trek" lore -- could leave legions of old "Trekkies" thinking Abrams had done something "highly illogical," as Spock might have once said. Old Spock Leonard Nimoy begs to differ.

"Canon is only important to certain people because they have to cling to their knowledge of the minutiae," Nimoy told Reuters. "Open your mind! Be a 'Star Trek' fan and open your mind and say, 'Where does Star Trek want to take me now'."

Where will audiences be taken? Backward is the way ahead.

They will learn confident Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) was a brawling bad boy from Iowa who joins the Star Fleet Academy, and beats the impossible "no win" simulator test that was dreamed up by the young and "logical" Spock (Zachary Quinto).

Together with crew mates McCoy, Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov and engineer Scotty, they board the Enterprise as young men and women on their first adventure in space.

The film, produced by Viacom Inc's Paramount pictures, moves at warp speed as the crew engages the villain Nero (Eric Bana) who has an eye for evil.

'GREAT JOB,' SAYS SPOCK

Nimoy, 78, is the only actor from the original TV series and "Star Trek" movies to also claim a role in the new film, playing Spock Prime, who helps set in motion the new future.

He heaped praise on the 31-year-old Quinto for taking Spock in a new direction as he first despises Kirk then grows to have a grudging respect for the man that will become his captain.

"I couldn't have improved on what he did," Nimoy said. "He did a great job, a great job, and I admire his choices."

After more than 40 years, Nimoy seems to have reached a comfort level with the character from whom he once wanted to distance himself. Nimoy even wrote one book called "I Am Not Spock", but later followed it with, "I Am Spock".

Nimoy was "ready to play the wise old character that hands down some help and philosophy to the young people", he said. "Settled, resolved, comfortable ... The Spock I played in this movie is pretty much me. Pretty much where I am in my life."

Whether fans settle for the new "Star Trek" awaits Friday's debut, but among comments at www.trekspace.org was this from Ben J Grimm: "I simply REFUSE to support ParaMOUND in their DEGRADATION of my beloved STAR TREK."

So "Grimm" may be disappointed in early reviews because "Star Trek" is winning raves. At review aggregator rottentomatoes.com, the movie rates a 100 percent positive.

The Hollywood Reporter says "all the familiar characters are instantly identifiable, the film gives Paramount Pictures a new lease of life on its franchise."

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE5443BU20090505

New "Star Trek" movie cast boldly goes to Australia

The cast of a new "Star Trek" movie, eagerly awaited by fans of the science fiction saga, is to go where no USS Enterprise crew has been before: Australia.

Paramount Pictures Australia on Friday said the action adventure movie by J.J. Abrams, director of "Mission: Impossible III" and co-creator of the series "Lost," would make its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House on April 7.

This will kick off a world tour that touches down in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain and Britain.

"Not only are we honored to have J.J. Abrams and the cast here in Sydney for the world premiere of the stunning new 'Star Trek,' we are also very excited to present this event at one of Australia's -- and the world's -- most famous locations, Sydney Opera House," said Mike Selwyn of Paramount Pictures Australia.

The movie, starring Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and Eric Bana as the villain Nero, is a reimagined story based on creator Gene Roddenberry's original TV series that dates back to 1966 and which created a cult phenomenon.

The film chronicles the early days of Kirk and the starship USS Enterprise.

Leonard Nimoy, 77, who first portrayed the Vulcan Mr. Spock, is the only original cast member who appears in the film, which is the 11th "Star Trek" movie. He makes a cameo appearance.

He had joined a campaign for the movie to hold its premiere in the small farming town of Vulcan in Alberta, Canada, that proved unsuccessful, partly because the town has no movie theater.

"Star Trek" opens in Australian cinemas on May 7, one day before opening in the United States.

A trailer for the new movie broke records when it was downloaded 1.8 million times in the first 24 hours after being released earlier this month.

Paramount Pictures Corp. is a unit of Viacom.

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE52J12C20090320