New “Star Trek” Can’t Get “Beyond” $60 Million

Sequel fatigue continues to plague the biggest releases of this summer. Star Trek Beyond, with only an estimated $59.6 million, couldn't match the openings of the 2009 reboot or its now-maligned sequel Star Trek into Darkness. Unless it has strong legs – certainly possible given there are no major releases after Suicide Squad – it's unlikely to get much more than $200 million, if that. And once again a studio is left to worry about international box office receipts to break even.

The Secret Life of Pets kept its impressive run going, taking in another $29.3 million. That was more than enough to keep all the family money for itself. Ice Age: Collision Course, the fifth entry in the series and the first since 2012, had a meltdown. Its $21 million is less than half of what Dawn of the Dinosaurs debuted with back in 2009. (Coincidentally, that film actually ended up being the franchise's biggest movie.) But that won't happen here.

Ghostbusters had a big scare, as it's in a virtual tie with Lights Out, the low-budget horror movie. The former fell around 53 percent, while the latter premiered on fewer screens with much less marketing. That's spooky. But it wasn't all bad, in that this is the first time in more than a year – and only the sixth time ever – that the top 5 movies each made more than $20 million.

Outside the top 5:

• This Weekend's Indie Champ: Don't Think Twice, the new film from comedian Mike Birbiglia, opened on only one screen. But it made an incredible $90,126 on it.
• It remains to be seen if it has any staying power, but Dinesh D'Souza's anti-Clinton screed Hillary's America expanded into wide release, taking in $3.7 million. His previous effort, simply titled America, made $14 million. But his opus 2016: Obama's America is the second-biggest political documentary ever, with $33 million.
• On a much more fun note, South Korean zombie thriller Train to Busan opened strong. It averaged more than $10,000 on 27 screens.

Next week:

Do audiences still care about Jason Bourne nine years after his story wrapped up? We'll find out as Matt Damon returns to the role that made him a blockbuster figure. I'm predicting a bet-hedging $60 million. That would be more than any debut in the franchise besides Ultimatum.