'Star Trek Beyond' Tops Box Office, Earns $59.6 Million In Opening Weekend

(Photo : Paramount Pictures) "Star Trek Beyond" debuted at the top of the box office, earning $59.6 million.

Paramount Pictures' "Star Trek Beyond," directed by Justin Lin ("Fast & Furious"), was expected to be the number one film at the box office, bringing in anywhere from $55 million to $60 million during its first weekend in theaters. So how did it end up doing?

The third film in the reboot franchise earned $59.6 million, far more than any other film over the weekend.

However, this debut is a sharp decline from the opening weekend numbers for the previous two "Star Trek" films, with 2009's "Star Trek" having brought in $75.2 million and 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness" earning $70.2 million.

Entertainment Weekly notes that "Star Trek Beyond" is the lowest big screen debut for the "Star Trek" franchise as a whole since the release of "Star Trek: Nemesis" ($18.5 million) in 2002.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto starring film currently has an 83 percent rating from critics and an 86 percent rating from audiences.

Overseas, "Star Trek Beyond" has brought in $30 million.

Meanwhile, Universal Pictures' "The Secret Life Of Pets" has slipped to second place in its third weekend, with $29.3 million, which is a 42 percent decline from the previous weekend.

The animated film's total in North America is now at $260.7 million, and its worldwide total stands at $323.7 million.

Warner Brothers' "Ghostbusters," which debuted at number two, has fallen to third place, bringing in $21.6 million over the weekend.

In fourth place is Warner Brothers' supernatural horror flick "Lights Out," produced by "Saw" and "The Conjuring" director James Wan, with $21.6 million. Considering the film had a budget of $4.9 million, "Lights Out" can definitely be considered a success.

The same can't be said for 20th Century Fox's "Ice Age: Collision Course," the fifth installment in the "Ice Age" franchise, which debuted with $21 million. Entertainment Weekly says that this is the first time one of the "Ice Age" films has grossed less than $41 million during opening weekend.

Rounding out the Top 10 at the weekend box office are Pixar's "Finding Dory" ($7.2 million), Warner Brothers' "The Legend Of Tarzan" ($6.4 million), 20th Century Fox's "Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates" ($4.4 million), D'Souza Media's "Hillary's America" ($3.7 million) and Broad Green Pictures' "The Infiltrator" ($3.3 million).