Box Office Review: Nerds Win!

Captain Kirk and Harold prepare to go parasailing. | Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

J.J. Abrams' reboot of the Star Trek franchise soared past expectations to bring in a huge $76.5M this weekend at the box office. Early tracking had pegged a $50-60M haul, but the well-reviewed film blew past those estimates. Last week's champ, Wolverine, endured an expected, precipitous drop but still managed to bring in $27M ($129.6M). The awful Ghosts of Girls Matthew McConaughey Used to Bang held up fairly well in its second week to score $10.4M ($30.2M) while Obsessed gathered an additional $6.6M ($56.2M).

The lame 17 Again ($4.4M/$54.1M) managed to hold off cartoonish newcomer Next Day Air ($4M). After that it was the maudlin The Soloist ($3.6M/$23.5M), the sturdy Monsters vs. Aliens ($3.3M/$186.8M), the good but not great Earth ($2.4M/$26M) and the dreary Hannah Montana Extorts Money from Children ($2.4M/$74M). The limited release crowd was led by Cedric Diggory's Little Ashes ($6417 per theater) which topped Atom Egoyan's Adoration ($4370) and Rudo y Cursi ($3014).