Stellar debut, find out why Star Trek “fell short”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Star Trek: Into Darkness” has warped its way to a $70.6 million domestic launch from Friday to Sunday, though it’s not setting any light-speed records with a debut that’s lower than the studio’s expectations.

The latest voyage of the starship Enterprise fell short of its predecessor, 2009’s “Star Trek,” which opened with $75.2 million.

Since premiering Wednesday in huge-screen IMAX theaters and expanding Thursday to general cinemas, “Into Darkness” has pulled in $84.1 million, well below distributor Paramount’s initial forecast of $100 million. The film has added $80.5 million overseas.

The “Star Trek” sequel bumped “Iron Man 3” down to second-place after two weekends on top. Robert Downey Jr.’s superhero saga took in $35.2 million domestically and $40.2 million overseas, shooting its worldwide total to nearly $1.1 billion.

Source: Associated Press