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Posted August 8, 2011 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Weekend Box-Office: Apes Rise to the Top

Last week, we had two films that went neck and neck during the weekend estimates (contrary to my original assessment, Cowboys & Aliens was the winner by a little over $800K). This week, there is no comparison…Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the big winner, taking the top spot with an estimated $54 million. The PG-13 science fiction film, with CGI apes motion-captured by Andy Serkis (he of Gollum from Lord of the Rings fame), bested last week’s competition handily…a competition that shows Cowboys & Aliens falling to 3rd place behind its arch-nemesis The Smurfs. Though both films are getting far less positive reviews than Apes, The Smurfs showed up Cowboys more thoroughly, making an estimated $21 million to Cowboys’ $15.7 million.

The only other film to debut this week to make the Top 10 was The Change-Up. Unlike the other R-rated comedies still barnstorming theaters (Horrible Bosses landing an estimated $4.6 million for 9th place, and Bridesmaids, while no longer a Top 10 contender, has made over $166 million domestically), this one has a less auspicious debut, getting bum reviews and earning only an estimated $13.5 million. Is it simply one too many Jason Bateman movies on the list? Did Green Lantern sour people on Ryan Reynolds? Whatever the case, it’s a slow start for a film that, comparatively, is on a rocky road compared to its competition. Meanwhile, Captain America: The First Avenger entered the black, earning an estimated $13 million for a 3-week total of $143 million domestically; while not quite up to Thor’s success (yet, anyway), it has proven a winner, and Marvel’s release of The Avengers next year is shaping up to be a good bet. While its early success has tapered off considerably, things are still excellent for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2; with an estimated $12.2 million, it has already become the worldwide top-grossing film of 2011, just edging out 10th place finisher Transformers: Dark of the Moon (earnings estimate: $3 million) with over $1.1 billion in total revenue.

Landing in seventh and eighth places, respectively, are two more R-rated comedies…while not quite in the realm of super success yet, Crazy, Stupid, Love made an estimated $12.1 million, putting it a few million shy of profit in its two weeks, while Friends with Benefits passed that benchmark some time ago with an estimated $4.7 million (it has made $48 million domestically compared to its $35 million production costs). And while these two may not be at $100 million yet, this does appear to be a good year to be an R-Rated comedy…but then, if apes are tops at the box office and little blue people aren’t that far behind, then anything is possible.

Weekend Box-Office (August 5 – August 7)

  1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes…$54 million
  2. The Smurfs…$21 million
  3. Cowboys & Aliens…$15.7 million
  4. The Change-Up…$13.5 million
  5. Captain America: The First Avenger…$113 million
  6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2…$12.2 million
  7. Crazy, Stupid, Love…$12.1 million
  8. Friends with Benefits…$4.7 million
  9. Horrible Bosses…$4.6 million
  10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon…$3 million
Seth Paul

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."