Rise of the Planet of the Apes wasn’t content with beating all previous expectations so it decided to rise above Sunday’s studio estimates for a curtain call.
The Apes prequel/reboot’s final opening weekend total comes in at $54.81 million. Fox had estimated $54 million even and thus lowballed the surprise hit’s tally by nearly a million dollars. I suspect no one at Fox is upset over the miss this afternoon.
Paramount enjoyed similar success in the first August weekend back in 2009 with the release of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. That film earned $54.7 million in its first three days, though it’s production budget is listed at $175 million versus the $93 million Fox reportedly spent on Rise of the Planet of the Apes. A sequel to Rise of Cobra is already in production.
Positive word of mouth is expected to continue to propel Rise of the Planet of the Apes beyond the $100 million mark by as early as next weekend. How much further it goes beyond that will depend on how much fight Caesar and his simian friends have left in them.
