How will Star Trek fare against Terminator Salvation?

TSD-23551 CHRISTIAN BALE stars as John Connor in Warner Bros. PicturesÕ action/sci-fi feature ÒTerminator Salvation,Ó a Warner Bros. Pictures release, also starring Sam Worthington. PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE STUDIO. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Last week, “Star Trek” nearly held off “Angels & Demons” at the box office.   This week, there’s an even tougher task for “Star Trek,” which so far has the best chance at “Iron Man”-type stamina this summer.

The latest ticketing data from MovieTickets.com on “Terminator Salvation,” which releases Thursday night, indicates “Terminator Salvation” is slightly out in front of “Star Trek.”

As of 12 p.m. ET today on MovieTickets.com, “Terminator Salvation” accounts for 28 percent of all ticket sales with “Star Trek”  close behind at 25 percent, followed by “Angels & Demons” at 21 percent.

Is there some fan dissatisfaction with “Terminator Salvation” as a PG-13 film, compared to the previous films’ R rating?  A MovieTickets.com poll indicates there may be.   Seventy-nine percent of poll respondents stated a “Terminator” film should be rated R, while 21% answered PG-13.  Two thousand people voted in the poll at MovieTickets.com.  PG-13 movies tend to open larger than R films, because of the larger potential audience, so what effect this has on “Terminator Salvation”‘s opening weekend remains to be seen.

– Matt Price