Disney/20th Century Studios’ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is helping to wake the box office from its spring slumber, grossing $22 million when it opens in 4,075 theaters, while it is now estimated to gross $55 million in the opening weekend. .
That’s the most sensible of pre-release box office projections and just one point below the initial unadjusted $56. 2 million of “Planet of the Apes” in 2017. “Kingdom” is the fourth installment of the “Apes” reboot that began with “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” in 2011 and the first release since Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019.
“Kingdom” is touted as the beginning of a new trilogy set generations after the events of the previous trilogy, and Disney hopes this will be the beginning of some other franchise that is reliable on its stable IP. The film’s reception was positive on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 80% critical and audience score.
But there’s a sour note for “Kingdom” and that’s its CinemaScore rating. While audiences gave an A- to the last three “Apes” reboot films, “Kingdom” earned a B. With a few rare exceptions like “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” last winter, big-budget films that failed to score an A or higher on CinemaScore in the post-COVID market saw their box count drop dramatically over the following weekends.
“Kingdom” may not have much of a festival for the general public next weekend, aside from Focus’ Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black,” but it could cause a stir on Memorial Day weekend when Warner Bros. ‘ “Furiosa” is released. get to the theaters.
Meanwhile, Universal/87North’s “The Fall Guy” retains some glimmers of hope for a long run that will allow it to break even. After receiving a savvy reception from audiences and a $28 million opening weekend, David Leitch’s action romantic comedy only fell. 48% in its second weekend, to $14. 4 million.
“The Fall Guy” is now estimated to have a 10-day domestic total of around $50 million, but it will still need a lot more to benefit its stated budget of more than $125 million before marketing costs.
Amazon MGM’s “Challengers” remains hopeful of breaking even in theaters with $5 million in its third weekend, bringing the sports drama’s domestic total from $55 million to $38. 4 million.