CinemaNerdz

Weekend Box-Office: Apes Still in Charge

Seth Paul

Truly, the planet is going to the apes…Rise of the Planet of the Apes held the top spot for the second week in a row, earning an estimated $27.5 million in weekend take. In only two weeks, the critically-acclaimed film has already broken the $100 million barrier in domestic gross, and even the typical drop in revenue from week to week was noticeably small, with a less than 50% loss. 2nd and 3rd place went to films opening this weekend, The Help, gaining an estimated $25.5 million (for a total of $35 million counting its Wednesday opening), and Final Destination 5, with an estimated $18.4 million in ticket sales. The Help, a story of several women and their determination to shake up their 1960s southern town’s racist ideas has received moderate to good praise; Final Destination 5, which showcases pipes flying through people’s heads in 3D, has received less pleasant reviews.

The Smurfs continues to astound; the family comedy receiving mostly negative reviews dropped less than 35% of its revenue this week, making an estimated $13.5 million this weekend, $101.5 million in domestic gross, and $242.6 million worldwide. This puts it well ahead of the unpleasantly reviewed and relatively poorly attended 30 Minutes or Less, which took in an estimated $13 million in its debut weekend. And Cowboys & Aliens continues to decline rapidly; once in the top spot against The Smurfs in a neck & neck battle, it earned an estimated $7.6 million this weekend, barely covering half of its costs with $81.4 million in total take.

Captain America: The First Avenger landed in seventh, but not ungracefully; only an estimated $7.1 million for its fourth weekend, but the film has shown a profit and has proven itself a moneymaker overseas with a worldwide gross of $285 million. While certainly not bad, its domestic earnings put it below most of the other Marvel adaptations leading to The Avengers movie save for The Incredible Hulk. Among other box office winners, Crazy, Stupid, Love turned a profit with an estimated $6.9 million, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow: Part 2 picked up a little more pocket change as the highest grossing film of 2011 (so far) earned a little under an estimated $6.9 million. But, one of the bubbles had to burst: the R-rated comedy success circuit has not turned out so well for The Change-Up, falling six places to the 10th spot with an estimated $6.2 million. Like Cowboys & Aliens, the film has yet to make back around half of its budgeted cost, but unlike Cowboys & Aliens, it didn’t have quite so much ground to make up ($52 million to Cowboy’s $163 million).

Weekend Box-Office (August 12 – August 14)

  1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes…$27.5 million
  2. The Help…$25.5 million
  3. Final Destination 5…$18.4 million
  4. The Smurfs…$13.5 million
  5. 30 Minutes or Less…$13 million
  6. Cowboys & Aliens…$7.6 million
  7. Captain America: The First Avenger…$7.1 million
  8. Crazy, Stupid, Love…$6.9 million
  9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2…$6.9 million
  10. The Change-Up…$6.2 million

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."
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