It's the beginning of July, which means that dozens of movies will be competing for summer supremacy as the ultimate box office champion. July will have several big name movies entering the ring such as Jason Bourne and Ghostbusters, two movies with a lot of buzz - good for one, bad for the other. So where does that leave Star Trek Beyond, the third movie in a franchise that feels like it lives in the neural part of the brain? According to early predictions, Star Trek Beyond could be looking at the highest live action debut of the month, with thanks in no small part to its significant work in social media.
Deadline has collected all the data and they're reporting that Star Trek Beyond is predicted to pull in $48-$60 million on its opening weekend. Admittedly, that's no July record and it's a lower opening than the previous two Star Trek installments, but the threequel is still expected to be one of the bigger premieres of the month. Jason Bourne hasn't started tracking yet but Star Trek Beyond could easily best Paul Feig's Ghostbusters. Jason Bourne may have a very positive response on social media, but Star Trek Beyond covers the most areas (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) of any film in the month.
Star Trek Beyond's biggest competitor may be Illumination's animated feature The Secret Life of Pets. It's looking to earn at least $80 million in the first weekend and has the highest projected opening of July. The film is expected to a take the baton from Finding Dory for the number one spot. Though it may be looking at a bigger initial haul than Star Trek Beyond, The Secret Life of Pets aims for a younger audience, so the two films shouldn't interfere too badly with each other.
We've still got a few weeks before the release of Star Trek Beyond and that's plenty of time for the movie to increase its buzz. The film will have a big presence at Comic-Con, the end all be all of nerd hype. Not only that, but Paramount is holding a special fan premiere of the movie during Comic-Con that is sure to win it some hashtags on social media. The studio also announced a marathon event, screening all three Star Trek films in theaters for the price of one marathon ticket. Combine that with the Star Trek fan event that occurred back in May and the female-skewing Rihanna trailer, then you've got a movie marketing campaign that's firing on all cylinders.
Star Trek Beyond is directed by Justin Lin and written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung. The film will finally hit theaters on July 22, so save the date in your calendar and give this movie the love it's desperately trying to earn.
