Though a $70 million opening might sound big, the debut weekend total for "Star Trek Into Darkness" isn't quite what Paramount had in mind, as the highly touted sequel made even less than the original amidst heavy competition. Meanwhile, "Iron Man 3" and "The Great Gatsby" both posted strong weekends and continue to have plenty of sway with their target audiences, suggesting that they still have a few more decent weekends left in theaters. "The Croods" also reached the top five for the seventh time after dipping out last weekend, pushing its impressive domestic total to $176 million in the process.
But the weekend was all about the enormous expectations around "Star Trek Into Darkness," the follow-up to a successful franchise reboot four years ago. Even with mostly positive critical buzz and heavy fan interest, "Into Darkness" struggled to compete for audiences with "Iron Man 3," which still pulled in $35 million over the weekend. With a production budget of $190 million and hopes that it will be Paramount's flagship franchise, "Into Darkness" looks like a substantial disappointment, earning nearly $5 million less than its predecessor and dramatically lowering box office expectations in the process.
Though "Into Darkness" could benefit from positive critic marks in the long haul, it also won't get any easier in terms of competition in the next few weekends. This Friday, "Fast & Furious 6" hits theaters with a huge mainstream audience to appeal to, and "The Hangover III" will take a segment of the target audience from "Into Darkness" as well. Numbers overseas should still be better than they were for the 2009 release, but "Into Darkness" has a long way to go to come close to pre-release industry expectations.
A release that definitely doesn't have to worry about expectations is "Iron Man 3," the Disney distribution that continues to rake in box office revenue both domestically and abroad. "Iron Man 3" pushed its domestic total to $337 million over the weekend and also soared past $1 billion worldwide, making it the clear benchmark for big-budget releases this year. Though "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" has the level of fan involvement to make it the top domestic release of the year, it's hard to imagine another release matching "Iron Man 3" worldwide when all the dust settles.
Also continuing to do very well with its target audience is "The Great Gatsby." Thanks to very solid daily numbers and another strong weekend, "Gatsby" is now up to $90 million in the U.S. and is a shoe-in to cross $100 million by next Sunday. "Gatsby" also marks yet another major box office triumph for Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been a part of a steady stream of blockbusters in recent years, from massive hits like "Shutter Island" and "Inception" to "Django Unchained" and now "Gatsby." This fall, DiCaprio stands a good chance of keeping that success going as he reteams with Martin Scorsese for "The Wolf of Wall Street," which is slated to hit theaters in November.
The weekend was also another success for "The Croods," Fox's popular animated film that has been making waves across the globe since it launched back in March. Now up to $550 million worldwide, "The Croods" is a lock to finish as one of the top grossing animated films of the year, though Disney/Pixar's "Monsters University" is still the clear favorite end up the most successful family film of 2013. "The Croods" should finish in the weekend top 10 one or two more times, though it will finally lose most of its family audience to big-budget animated film "Epic" this Friday.
After "Star Trek" and "Iron Man" dominated the early parts of May, the release calendar for the rest of the month will bring an eclectic set of new titles that could go either way at the box office. Hitting theaters next weekend, "Fast & Furious 6" stands the best chance to put up some huge overall numbers, though "The Hangover III" has the fan base to potentially make it the highest grossing comedy of the year. Fox's animated film "Epic" also has big expectations with family audiences and M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi epic "After Earth" seems to have both blockbuster and bust potential, with Will Smith and son Jaden co-starring in the Sony/Columbia distribution.
Early Studio Box Office Estimates for 5/17/13 - 5/19/13 (in millions), [RTT Prediction]:
1) Star Trek Into Darkness (Paramount): $70.56 [$98]
2) Iron Man 3 (Disney): $35.18 [$33]
3) The Great Gatsby (Warner Brothers): $23.42 [$27]
4) Pain & Gain (Paramount): $3.10 [$2.6]
5) The Croods (Fox): $2.75 [$2.2]
6) 42 (Warner Brothers): $2.73 [$2.9]
7) Oblivion (Universal): $2.22 [$1.9]
8) Tyler Perry Presents Peeples (Lionsgate): $2.15 [$2.3]
9) Mud (Roadside Attractions): $2.16 [$1.2]
10) The Big Wedding (Lionsgate): $1.10 [$1.3]
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.