Wes Ball‘s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes brought some much-needed heat to the early summer box office with a domestic debut of $56.5 million and $72.5 million overseas for a global start of $129 million. If those numbers hold once final weekend grosses come in, it will rank as the second-best launch of the series in North America.
The 20th Century and Disney event pic came in on the high end of expectations domestically after Universal’s The Fall Guy — the first film of summer 2024 at the box office — left nerves frayed across Hollywood after opening to a disappointing $27.7 million over the May 5-7 frame. Tracking had suggested the action comedy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, would at least start off in the $32 million to $35 million range, which was already a subdued number.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes‘ performance is being fueled by a strong turnout by both younger and older males, as well as an ethnically diverse audience. One surprise: It received a B CinemaScore from audiences despite plenty of glowing reviews by critics. Studio insiders aren’t overly concerned about the CinemaScore, noting strong that 85 percent of moviegoers gave it an A or a B. This suggests that a vocal minority dragged down the overall score by giving it a C or lower. And exit polling by PostTrak shows both general audiences and kids and parents giving the fourquel four out of five stars.
The pic is the fourth title in the rebooted series that began with the James Franco-Andy Serkis-starrer Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011, and cost a net $160 million to make before marketing, which is notably less than the last two titles.
Overseas, where the series has always been a big draw, Kingdom took in a solid but not spectacular $72.5 million. It did big business across Latin America. China, however, was largely a bust, where it opened to $11.4 million and was unable to compete with a trio of new local titles. Excluding China, Ball’s movie boasts the second-highest opening of the series behind the 2017 threequel.
Franchise fatigue is always a concern, but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was able to come in ahead of the $56.3 million domestic opening of the last installment, 2017’s War of the Planet of the Apes. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, released in 2014, opened to a franchise-record $72.6 million. In 2014, Rise debuted to $54.3 million domestically.
Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand and William H. Macy lead the latest installment. Set 300 years after the events in 2017’s War of the Planet of the Apes — that film started off with $5 million in previews and opened to $56.3 million domestically — Ball’s movie follows a group of young apes who question the authoritarian rule of the ape who has taken the place of Caesar. Along their journey, the apes bond with a young human.
The Fall Guy placed second domestically with an estimated $13.7 after tumbling 51 percent for a 10-day total of $49.7 million. Universal had hoped for a decline of 50 percent or less.
More women did turn out to see Fall Guy in its sophomore outing and made up 53 percent of Friday’s audience in a win for Universal’s post-release marketing push focusing on the film’s rom-com action storyline. However, hopes are ebbing that the movie will grow its audience to the needed levels.
Zendaya-starrer Challengers, from Amazon MGM Studios, is holding at No. 3 in its third weekend. It’s dipped a narrow 38 percent to an estimated $4.7 million for a domestic total of $38.4 million through Sunday.
Screen Gem and Sony’s Tarot placed No. 4 with an estimated second-weekend gross of $3.4 million for a tepid 10-day domestic tally of $12 million.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire rounded out the top five all the way in its seventh frame with $2.6 million, enough to push it past the $190 million mark domestically for Legendary and Warner Bros. Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 also cleared the $190 mark as both hope to reach the $200 million milestone.
More to come.
May 12, 8 a.m.: Updated with Sunday estimates.
This story was originally published May 11 at 8:45 am.
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