Latest ‘Planet of Apes’ episode swings to top of N. America box office
LOS ANGELES: Twentieth Century's action sci-fi film ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' climbed to the top of the North American box office in its opening weekend, taking in an estimated US$56.5 million, one of the year's best results, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
“This is an excellent opening for the 10th episode in an action series,” said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, adding that “the foreign numbers are excellent.”
The film, set 300 years after 'War for the Planet of the Apes,' takes place in a world now totally controlled by the talking primates, with feral humans scraping by on the edges of civilization.
Director Wes Ball admits that it will 'take time' to make further movies in the ‘Planet of the Apes' franchise.
The 43-year-old filmmaker has suggested that quality will take precedence over speed in terms of future flicks.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, Wes said: “It'll take as long as it takes. Fortunately, because this franchise is important to the studio, we'll get it right like we did this one, took our time and got it right.
“It takes time, the development itself, and my big thing is I do not want to go into prep when the script is not done. I've had to do that in the past. Nothing good comes from that.”
He continued: “That's one of the biggest things that movies could be doing right now is stop doing that. We'd save a ton of money.
Owen Teague (as young, resourceful ape Noa) and Freya Allan (playing Mae, a human who, to Noa's amazement, can speak) lead the cast.
Universal's action film 'The Fall Guy' did just that, dropping by more than half from its opening weekend, to just $13.7 million. Ryan Gosling plays a stuntman working on a film that is the directorial debut of his exgirlfriend (Emily Blunt).
In third for the second straight weekend was MGM's tennisbased romance 'Challengers,' at US$4.7 million for the Fridaythrough-Sunday period. Singer/ actor Zendaya stars as a tennis star-turned-coach caught in an awkward love triangle.
Fourth place again went to 'Tarot,' a horror film from Sony and Screen Gems, at $3.5 million. In its second weekend out, the low-budget flick has already earned 50 per cent more than its US$8 million production cost.
And in fifth, for a second straight weekend, was Warner Bros.' 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire' at US$2.5 million. The battling monsters, who have sold US$191 million in tickets domestically, have also proved popular abroad, taking in $367 million outside the US and Canada. —
Rounding out the top 10 were:
• Unsung Hero (US$2.3 million)
• Kung Fu Panda 4 (US$2 million)
• Civil War (US$1.8 million)
• Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (US$1.5 million)
• Abigail (US$1.1 million)