AirLockAlpha.com

Today is a special day for Star Trek fans who not only love the idea that the franchise has been reborn, but love the fact it happened through a movie directed by J.J. Abrams.

"Star Trek" today will become the highest-grossing movie of 2009 when it surpasses the $193.8 million domestic box office take of "Monsters vs. Aliens," according to TrekMovie. That will put it in a position that likely few other Star Trek movies have ever held: best of the best. At least for now.

On Tuesday, "Star Trek" earned another $2 million at the box office on more than 4,000 screens, according to ShowBiz Data, dropping less than 40 percent from May 19, and finishing just a few thousand dollars behind "Angels & Demons." Through Tuesday, that brings "Star Trek's" total domestic box office to $193 million, less than $800,000 lower than "Monsters vs. Aliens."

However, "Monsters" right now is only grossing about $135,000 a day as it nears the end of a long theatrical run, playing on just 1,400 screens. Even a sudden drop in ticket sales for "Star Trek" will not stop it from overtaking "Monsters" today for the top spot, especially as it continues to show on more than 4,000 screens 19 days after its world premiere. Only "Night at the Museum II," last week's box office winner, is showing on more screens, and even then, it's only on just 40 more screens.

"Terminator: Salvation," which premiered at No. 2 over the weekend, actually took the top spot at the box office Tuesday making less than $80,000 more than "Night at the Museum II." However, "Terminator" remains $4.6 million behind the $73.7 million take of "Night at the Museum" at this point.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" could be heading to its end. The film added less than $650,000 to its total Tuesday bringing its total box office to a not-so-shabby $165.8 million. "Star Trek," however, is still about $30 million ahead, and could cross the $200 million mark by Saturday, making it the first ever Star Trek film to do so in terms of raw dollars.

All of this is relative, of course. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" are set to be released in the coming weeks, and both have a very good chance of becoming the highest-grossing movie of the year.

The last "Transformers" film booked more than $319.2 million at the box office in 2007 while "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" earned $292 million that same year.

However, there has been some speculation that "Transformers" isn't receiving the same type of buzz its predecessor did when the studio was going out of its way to keep a lot of the look and feel of the robots under wraps. Because of that, some feel that the second movie could finish in the $275 million range while "Half-Blood Prince" could end up around $290 million.

"Star Trek" is expected to finish its box office run at about $230 million.