'Star Trek Beyond' boots 'Pets' to box office doghouse

STAR Trek Beyond boldly went to the top of the box office in its weekend debut, sending The Secret Life of Pets to the doghouse in the number two spot.
Paramount's Star Trek Beyond, the latest instalment in the 50-year-old franchise, beamed up US$59.6 million in gross receipts, according to estimates released by industry tracker Exhibitor Relations on Sunday.
In the epic science-fiction adventure directed by Justin Lin, the crew of the USS Enterprise crash-land on a hostile planet and must find a way to escape from the villain Krall.
That knocked off The Secret Life of Pets from two weeks in the top spot. Pets, which racked up an impressive US$104.4 million in its debut weekend, took in US$29.3 million.
The Universal Pictures animated comedy follows two pet dogs let loose in New York City, featuring the voices of comedian Louis CK and actor Eric Stonestreet.
Lights Out debuted in third place, tying with Ghostbusters in its second week, with both taking in US$21.6 million at the box office.
Lights Out is a horror movie about a creature that only attacks in the dark, directed by David Sandberg.
Ghostbusters is a resurrection of the 1984 hit film but this time the leads are women, not men.
In fifth place was Ice Age: Collision Course with a US$21 million take in its debut. The 3-D animated film – with the slogan "Kiss your ice goodbye" – features animals trying to fend off a meteor strike that would destroy the world.
Rounding out the top 10 films of the weekend were:
» Finding Dory (US$7.2 million)
» The Legend of Tarzan (US$6.4 million)
» Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (US$4.4 million)
» Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (US$3.7 million)
» "The Infiltrator" ($3.3 million) — AFP