"Star Trek" = the biggest box office hit of 2009

[VOODOOXI]

If weekend estimates hold "Star Trek" will be the number one film of 2009 at the domestic box office by Wednesday at the latest.

Weekend estimates are starting to come in that have "Star Trek" making about $30 million dollars over the holiday weekend. If those numbers are valid it will put "Star Trek" around $193 million dollars and slightly above "Monster and Aliens" + into first place at the domestic box office for 2009.

I am well aware that films like "Harry Potter" and "Transformers" (must be good to be Bob and Alex right about now) will likely surpass "Star Trek" in the long run, but Star Trek's revival has been nothing short of spectacular thus far.

 

[blaXXer]

Nay-Sayers be DAMNED!

 

[Classic Fan]

Nay-Sayers be DAMNED!

Quite right.

 

[superstring01]

No-way. Transformers and Harry Potter will run circles around it. Not only in the USA (where I bet they do no less than 400m a piece), but outside the USA where Trek's performance isn't that stellar.

~String

Edit: My bad. You mention this.

 

[Borgminister]

Be nice to have that title for a little while, anyway.

And it bodes very well for the next movie, if handled with the same smarts all around.

 

[darkshadow0001]

Of course. Every Star Trek movie should be the biggest box office hit of that year.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

I'm curious about how well Transformers will do in comparison to Trek. Wasn't the first Transformers pretty well disliked? I know it made some serious coin but I'm figuring that was by a lot of fanboys who grew up on the cartoon. I'm assuming many who were disapointed the first time out will skip the second showing. I don't care how fine Megan Fox's ass is just cause she's sticking it up in the air in the trailer doesn't mean I'm seeing the movie. However if she was in my bedroom sticking her ass up in the air I assure you I would go over to it and sniff it most profusely, taking in the sweet smell of lilac and roses before unzipping my pants and whipping out my throbbing, purplish, veiny--

Shit! Gotta go! Something suddenly came up!

 

[Basil]

The real test will be how profitable the film is. At $150 million to make, doubling that to include marketing, it has to get past the $300 million mark to begin earning a profit. It will, but how much, and how much this appears as a percentage compared to other films, will be the true measure of its financial success.

 

[superstring01]

The real test will be how profitable the film is. At $150 million to make, doubling that to include marketing, it has to get past the $300 million mark to begin earning a profit. It will, but how much, and how much this appears as a percentage compared to other films, will be the true measure of its financial success.

Good point. I'm pretty sure that "The Voyage Home" will be tough to top. It had minimal special effects and made tons of money.

~String

 

[DarthPipes]

Congratulations, Star Trek! It was well-deserved and no matter what, the naysayers have been silenced.

 

[urbandk]

The real test will be how profitable the film is. At $150 million to make, doubling that to include marketing, it has to get past the $300 million mark to begin earning a profit. It will, but how much, and how much this appears as a percentage compared to other films, will be the true measure of its financial success.

can you get me a link for those numbers, please?

this is the test that every blockbuster has to pass.

think about it:

if star trek is number one so far this year,
and if box office receipts are up overall this year from last
and if star trek's (unannounced) budget is less than terminator and monsters vs aliens and at parity with other big blockbusters (wolverine, angels & demons),

then all these films would be major flops if star trek failed to be a big financial success.

since these films are not flops (with the exception perhaps of terminator, which remains to be seen), you can rest assured that Star Trek is a major success, or are you just being pessimistic in the face of all the facts?

 

[Borgminister]

Again, DVD sales can and should be factored into the entire figure, because realities overall are different nowadays...

 

[superstring01]

The real test will be how profitable the film is. At $150 million to make, doubling that to include marketing, it has to get past the $300 million mark to begin earning a profit. It will, but how much, and how much this appears as a percentage compared to other films, will be the true measure of its financial success.

can you get me a link for those numbers, please?

this is the test that every blockbuster has to pass.

think about it:

if star trek is number one so far this year,
and if box office receipts are up overall this year from last
and if star trek's (unannounced) budget is less than terminator and monsters vs aliens and at parity with other big blockbusters (wolverine, angels & demons),

then all these films would be major flops if star trek failed to be a big financial success.

since these films are not flops (with the exception perhaps of terminator, which remains to be seen), you can rest assured that Star Trek is a major success, or are you just being pessimistic in the face of all the facts?

You can't just look at box office receipts anymore. If a movie JUST pays for itself (production and marketing) in the theartres, it's a HUGE success. Especially if it has profitable marketing tie-ins. In this case, Star Trek had just that: the Burger King glasses sold out quickly, and the toys (while not flying off the shelves) are selling well. When one takes into consideration the pay-per-view and premium cable income, the DVD sales and the "first airing rights" that a TV station will pay (a blockbuster will make $20 million just from the one of the "Big Four" to air in the USA alone) a movie like Star Trek need only pay for itself in the theaters. All of the really profitable stuff comes outside the cineplexes.

It's not unimaginable that Star Trek will make another $100-$150 million after all the other factors are considered.

After it's boiled down, this movie will probably make Viacom about $100 million. Whatever "margin" that is is pointless: A hundred million dollars is a hundred million dollars and WELL worth it, even if it only made that much on a billion dollar budget, it still made the studio a butt-load of cash (and it didn't even cost that much).

Margins are wonderful, but raw dollars speak for themselves.

~String

 

[Basil]

The real test will be how profitable the film is. At $150 million to make, doubling that to include marketing, it has to get past the $300 million mark to begin earning a profit. It will, but how much, and how much this appears as a percentage compared to other films, will be the true measure of its financial success.

can you get me a link for those numbers, please?

this is the test that every blockbuster has to pass.

think about it:

if star trek is number one so far this year,
and if box office receipts are up overall this year from last
and if star trek's (unannounced) budget is less than terminator and monsters vs aliens and at parity with other big blockbusters (wolverine, angels & demons),

then all these films would be major flops if star trek failed to be a big financial success.

since these films are not flops (with the exception perhaps of terminator, which remains to be seen), you can rest assured that Star Trek is a major success, or are you just being pessimistic in the face of all the facts?

The figures have been bandied about these boards for weeks -- do a search.

It's not pessimistic to point out the facts and parameters. It's no different than buying a house for $200,000 and the selling it 10 years later for $250,000. On paper, it looks like you made $50,000, but if inflation increased 30% in that period (3% a year, the average), you built a deck for $10,000, put in new appliances for $1500, paid $20,000 in interest, and hired a realtor to sell it, you didn't make any money but actually lost on the deal. It also doesn't matter if you sold your house for the highest price on the block. A film is no different, regardless of whether it's a blockbuster or not.

Now, if you bought the house for $10,000, did everything I just described, and sold it for $250,000, you made a huge profit. That's somewhat analogous to, say, The Blair Witch Project's profitability.

Box office receipts are not the same as profit. Put another way, it's not how much you make but how much you keep.

 

[Basil]

Again, DVD sales can and should be factored into the entire figure, because realities overall are different nowadays...

That's absolutely true -- in fact, if anywhere, that is where Star Trek is likely to shine. I do think it will be profitable at the box office but not as highly as people want to think, in part because I still think fans are driving the lion's share of the viewings (and repeats) right now, not that elusive "mainstream" audience. DVDs are a whole different ballgame, and Star Trek should do very well in home video sales.

 

[Borgminister]

Again, DVD sales can and should be factored into the entire figure, because realities overall are different nowadays...

That's absolutely true -- in fact, if anywhere, that is where Star Trek is likely to shine. I do think it will be profitable at the box office but not as highly as people want to think, in part because I still think fans are driving the lion's share of the viewings (and repeats) right now, not that elusive "mainstream" audience. DVDs are a whole different ballgame, and Star Trek should do very well in home video sales.

I'll tell you what, then. There were a hell of a lot more Star Trek fans than I thought there would be. In fact, more will end up showing up for this movie than any other (adjusted for inflation) since TMP.

What that tells me is there is a casual fan base out there now too; like the kind that say "hey that movie looks good" whether it be chick flick, action movie or sci-fi adventure.

In other words, the genre fans are making this film work, not just the Trek fans.

And the families that come out to be entertained.

The success is broader than it has been in a long time.

 

[Jeri]

I just went to the Barnes & Noble to buy the Star Trek magazine souvenir issue, whereupon the grandmotherly clerk began effusing excitedly about the movie, which she had seen only yesterday for the first time. She absolutely loved it.

 

[Aragorn]

Nay-Sayers be DAMNED!

[Angry fanboy loser]"All this means is that there are a lot more stupid people that I can look down on with my smug superiority while hiding behind internet anonymity. No Gary Mitchell or Finnegan completely ruined the movie for me, and only intelligent, sophisticated likeminded true Trekkers like me would know that."[/Angry fanboy loser]

 

[indranee]

yep, all indications suggest that it's not just trekkies who're making this movie the success it's deemed to be.

 

[Borgminister]

I just went to the Barnes & Noble to buy the Star Trek magazine souvenir issue, whereupon the grandmotherly clerk began effusing excitedly about the movie, which she had seen only yesterday for the first time. She absolutely loved it.

You are quite the Star Trek Ambassador, aren't you?

I think residual ticket sales will be very strong...