The latest entry in the nearly six decade long Planet of the Apes series, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, ruled over all human ticket buyers with an estimated $56.5 million in its first weekend at the box office.
The Apes performed well with critics, but impressed audiences a bit less this time around. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes currently sits at 81% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, but the film only received a “B” rating from those polled by Cinemascore.
Even with a “banana split” between critics and ticket buyers, the $56.5 was a welcome sign at a weak box office, which has struggled to get any domestic film over the $200 million domestic total line in 2024. Only Dune Part 2 has crossed the coveted $200 million benchmark ($281 million), with Godzilla x Kong and Kung-Fu Panda 4 just falling short of the milestone. It seems unlikely that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be able to reach it, especially with more formidable competition on the way soon.
Last week’s second place winner, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, continued to do well throughout the week and this past weekend, with a $1.5 million haul. The latest rerelease stands at $12 million, injecting much needed dollars and ticket buyers into local movie houses. Look for older films to continue to pop up at your local theater due to smaller number of new films this summer and the rest of the year due to the labor issues in Hollywood which set dozens of projects behind schedule.
In other good news, The Fall Guy is holding strong at the box office with an estimated $13.7 million in its second weekend. With only a 50% drop, it appears that The Fall Guy may be able to go the distance through May and into June, which would be music to the ears of Universal Studios execs.
Come back next week to see if the Apes are still top banana at the weekend box office.