The "Summer Movies" have already started with last week's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." There is a lot of excitement over J.J. Abrams's reboot of the franchise. With a younger cast and shinier sets, could this movie live up to the expectations of Star Trek fans? Early reports had Star Trek outselling Wolverine in terms of advanced tickets. It's clear that the Star Trek fans will be in the theaters starting tonight to either praise the movie or tear it apart.
It may be a great movie. It sure looks it. But my question is, will it be "successful"? In other words, can it be profitable for Paramount? The movie has a reported budget of $150 million. The studio has also invested another $150 million into promoting the movie.
The last movie, "Star Trek: Nemesis" had an opening weekend of $18.5 million. Ouch. It's worldwide gross (according to BoxOfficeMojo) is only $67.3 million. Obviously these are different Star Trek movies. The current movie will have more appeal to non-Star Trek fans.
Star Trek will also be competing against Wolverine (in his second week of release). While it's pretty much a sure thing Star Trek will do better than Wolverine this weekend, it could still lose some sales to the furry little guy. Another key factor on a movie's success are the individual day's ticket sales. Paramount's decision to premiere the movie five hours earlier will give it a head start from the midnight showings but will also take away from Friday's numbers.
Are you going to see the movie? When do you plan on seeing it? Do you think it will have a bigger opening than Wolverine had last weekend ($85 million domestic)? How long do you think it will take Paramount to recoup their $300 million investment?