Bryan Alexander

USA TODAY

Star Trek Beyond scored a direct photon torpedo hit with audiences, taking $59.6 million in its opening weekend to easily win the box office.

Beyond rode critical success, scoring an 84% positive rating on the review aggregation site RottenTomatoes.com, while introducing Trekkies to the villainous Krall (Idris Elba) and dramatically destroying the USS Enterprise. Audiences gave it an A-minus at CinemaScore.

The third film in the rebooted film franchise landed amid the celebration of the TV series' 50th anniversary.

'Star Trek Beyond' becomes tragic tribute for two

"This opening is a solid debut for a film and a franchise, showing that Star Trek still stands the test of time," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. "There have been 13 Star Trek films going back to 1979, rivaling James Bond in screen longevity."

The total did reflect a trend of opening weekend drops from the first two rebooted films: Star Trek scored $75.2 million in 2009, while Star Trek Into Darkness took $70.2 million in 2013, according to comScore.

"We've seen diminishing returns in this brand, no question," Dergarabedian says. "But in the context of this summer, Star Trek Beyond is a hit."

Animated monster The Secret Life of Pets scored a strong second place with $29.3 million for a three-week total of $260.7 million.

Third place was a tie at $21.6 million between the rebooted Ghostbusters and the opening weekend of the microbudget horror film Lights Out.

Ghostbusters opened last weekend with a disappointing $46 million and a second-place finish behind The Secret Life of Pets. The Paul Feig-directed film starring all-female Ghostbusters saw a 53% drop this weekend and now has a domestic total of $86.9 million.

"Sony is pitching this as a comedy, but it didn’t hold like a comedy at the box office, which all Paul Feig films have done before,” says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “Ghostbusters is playing more like a blockbuster that wasn’t a blockbuster. The international audience will decide whether this is really going to be another franchise."

With a production budget of $154 million, Ghostbusters has earned $36 million internationally and will continue to roll out around the world through August.

The Mothership: The best and worst of the new 'Ghostbusters'

The overperforming Lights Out already qualifies as a hit, given its thrifty production budget of $5 million. The film scored a 77% approval rating on RottenTomatoes and a B from audiences.

Ice Age: Collision Course landed with a thud in fifth place in its opening weekend. The fifth film in the once-dominant Ice Age animated franchise scored an acorn-sized $21 million against a budget of $105 million.

“North American audiences are pretty tired of the franchise, which showed nothing new here,” Bock says. “But this has everything to do with Secret Life of Pets, which has just been a bulldozer, and also Finding Dory. There’s been too much family animation in rapid succession.”

Just 13% of critics liked Collision Course, while audiences graded it a B-plus.

Final numbers are expected Monday.