I dunno, Ghostbusters could be very big - if it's good.
Yeah but it's not going to be $1.2billion Iron Man 3 and probably not $788 million Fast and Furious 6 good though is it? That was what STID was up against among others in 2013. I can't see any two of ST3's competition making those numbers.
To add, it's also that Iron Man 3 and FF6 were very much outliers when we take all the other big ginormous special effects movies of the year altogether. It'd be nice if ST3 (or Ghostbusters, for that matter) make those numbers, but even if it doesn't, they can still be financial successes without being at the top.
Not basing this on anything other than the good things I've heard so far, I'm confident that ST3 will be in the top 3 and no lower than that. I'm definitely of the opinion that being without J.J. Abrams has put this project in a position to have to prove itself and, in that sense, it's like getting to do the first one, all over again. And we know how successful that was ...
I think these are both very optimistic views. I just cannot see ST3 doing any more than 600-650 at the absolute maximum, despite how much I'd love it to.
It's total speculation I know, but it's fun to do.