Movie Nation

When you roll your film out on IMAX screens by the hundreds Wednesday night, your box office take is going to look inflated. When you add late Thursday non-IMAX shows to it, all the more.

That $13-14 million head start puts “Star Trek Into Darkness” within range of its predicted $100 million 4 (4.5) day opening “weekend.” Because the film added another $27 million or so in sales Friday. It’s over $40 as of Saturday AM.

And Deadline.com reports that it did over $47 million overseas.

That’s better than “Trek I,” which managed $79 on its opening weekend. But it wasn’t in 3D, and it wasn’t playing on hundreds of IMAX screens, and it didn’t have a four-day opening.

Looked at that way, the film is selling fewer tickets on its opening weekend. And with “Fast & Furious 6” opening May 24, it will only win one weekend box office race. It’ll be off filmgoers’ radar sooner.

Reviews will prop it up for a bit. But this summer is so front-loaded with franchise pictures and potential blockbusters that you have to wonder if there’ll be any money left by the time “Man of Steel” opens in a month.

Chatting about movies on yet another radio show this afternoon — 1620 AM The Zone’s afternoon drive show “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” at 410 pm local time, 510 Eastern.

Or listen live here.

We’ll talk “

Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Mud” (which opens wider today) and “The Iceman” (ditto).

Those are very good opening day numbers. Great? Pretty much. “Gatsby” opened on a late Thursday/Friday $19 million.

“Trek” will do most of its business Friday and Sat., but it is still on track to haul in about $100 million over its first four day “weekend.”

It is sucking residual audience away from “Iron Man 3” and that should mean that “Gatsby” comes in second, or a very close third, for the weekend.

It’s Friday, which means a conversation with The Bulldog over at 740 The Game, talking new movies and whatever other pop culture ephemera comes to mind.

For a sports guy, Mike Bianchi sure does like to sing. All those nights in karaoke bars, I suppose.

We’ll talk about “Star Trek Into Darkness,” because we must.

We’ll discuss “The Iceman,” because it goes into wide release today. Best gangster movie in ages.

We’ll plug “Mud,” which has its last weekend at the Enzian. And they’re showing “Blazing Saddles” as their Wednesday night “Pitcher Show,” outdoors, with beer. The way Mel meant it to be shown.

That’s all at 745am on 740 AM, The Open Mike radio show. Or listen in live here.

When you have folks behind “Sex and the City” and “Common Threads: Stories from the (AIDS) Quilt” and “The Life and Times of Harvey Milk,” how do you think beauty queen turned orange juice spokesmodel turned avenging anti-gay harpy Anita Bryant will come off?

The team, including Darren “Sex and the City” Starr, may surprise us with the story of the radicalization of a woman who fears her culture and religious traditions are under assault. They may find some kernel of meaning behind the woman who brought hate speech front and center during the 1970s-80s battle for gay rights and struggles to gain attention for AIDS research. Or they may go for a lampooning of a woman who seems like a caricature in the cold, judging light of history.

It’s a complex story to try and get right, the first moments of a real sea change in  American attitudes and mores. Context is important, and frankly, all most of us know about Bryant is her activism and her connection to the “Moral Majority” movement of her day. To be MORE frank, I thought she was dead. The fact that she isn’t further complicates how they portray her.

They’ve cast Uma Thurman in the part. And she could use a break right about now.

There’s quite a bit of anticipation. Not as much as “Iron Man 3,” apparently, but a bit.

The early overseas box office is impressive. Not as impressive a “Iron Man 3,” but maybe that’s due to the difference in the number of markets it opened in.

Reviews are even better than “Iron Man 3,” although “Iron Man’s” numbers dropped with added reviews over its first weekend. “Trek” may track lower as more critics weigh in. I’m seeing a few lukewarm endorsements, like mine. It’s got script issues, tone issues and some are saying casting issues. It’s no “Wrath of Khan,” that’s for sure.

But by this time Monday AM, “Star Trek Into Darkness” will have taken advantage of its four day (plus late night Wednesday) opening and earned $100 million.

According to Box Office Mojo.

And Variety agrees. That’s where the pre-sales and audience interest levels are tracking. The first film had a $75 million opening weekend, on its way to $257 million at the domestic box office. This one could easily top that, though the competition is tougher and my feeling is that it won’t have legs like that one. “Fast and Furious 6” opens next week, I’ve seen it and my sense is that it will swamp “Trek’s” second week — a $100-125 million opening.

“Gatsby” and “Iron Man” are neck and neck in the daily box office, and The Great American Novel has a slim chance of pulling ahead of the Great American Comic Book this weekend. Surely “Trek” will suck up all the fanboy money.

“42” is on a pace to come close to $100 million. I still can’t believe “Peeples” bombed. Tyler Perry’s audience didn’t take to Craig Robinson, at all. Must not be “Office” fans.