‘Star Trek Beyond’ soars with $59.6M at box office

LOS ANGELES—“Star Trek Beyond” has landed atop the weekend box office.

Paramount’s latest outing with the Starship Enterprise soared to $59.6 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, knocking Universal’s “The Secret Life of Pets” from the No. 1 spot.

“Pets” fell to second place, adding an additional $29.3 million to its stellar $260 million earnings over the past three weeks.

“Star Trek Beyond” is the third film in the rebooted franchise that kicked off with J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek.” This latest film opened $20 million behind that 2009 release, but experts say the returns are still promising for Paramount.

“This is a solid enough debut to tell them there’s still enough interest in ‘Star Trek’ to keep this franchise alive,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker comScore.

“Star Trek Beyond” opened in line with industry expectations, he said, despite the unexpected death last month of 27-yearold actor Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov.

“The tragic passing of Anton Yelchin made it bittersweet for fans,” Dergarabedian said. “I don’t think that took away anything from the film. Fans can pay their respects to Yelchin by watching him on the screen.”

“The Secret Life of Pets” and “Ghostbusters” bested—or tied—the weekend’s other new releases.

Warner Bros.’ low-budget horror “Lights Out” opened with $21.6 million—more than quadrupling its reported $5 million budget—to tie with “Ghostbusters” for third place.

Fox’s animated “Ice Age: Collision Course” debuted with $21 million. Fox Searchlight’s “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie” opened outside the top 10 with $1.8 million.

The documentary “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party,” from conservative political pundit Dinesh D’Souza, edged into the top 10 in its second week with $3.7 million.

“That’s pretty amazing,” Dergarabedian said. “But it’s obviously due to the timing with the Republican National Convention last week and the Democratic National Convention this week.”