‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Warms Up Box Office With $55 Million Opening

Disney/20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is helping wake up the box office from its late spring slumber, earning $22 million from its opening day at 4,075 theaters as it is now estimated to earn a $55 million opening weekend.

That is on the top end of pre-release box office projections and is just a step below the unadjusted $56.2 million opening of “War for the Planet of the Apes” in 2017. “Kingdom” is the fourth installment of the “Apes” reboot saga that began with “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” in 2011 and the first released since Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019.

“Kingdom” sells itself as the start of a new trilogy in the saga set generations after the events of the previous trilogy, and Disney is hoping for this to be the start of another reliable franchise in their IP stable. Reception for the film was generally positive on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 80% critics and audience score.

But there is a sour note for “Kingdom,” and that is its CinemaScore grade. While audiences gave all three of the previous “Apes” reboot films an A-, “Kingdom” received a B. Aside from some rare exceptions like last winter’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” big-budget films that have failed to earn an A- or higher on CinemaScore in the post-COVID market have seen their box office numbers drop sharply in later weekends.

“Kingdom” won’t have much competition for general audiences next weekend aside from Focus’ Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black,” but this may spell trouble for Memorial Day weekend when Warner Bros.’ “Furiosa” hits theaters.

Meanwhile, Universal/87North’s “The Fall Guy” is holding on to some faint glimmers of hope for a long run at the box office that will allow it to reach the break-even point. After earning strong audience reception but a limp $28 million opening weekend, the David Leitch action romcom dropped just 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 is still going to need way more to turn a profit against its reported $125 million-plus budget before marketing costs.

Amazon MGM’s “Challengers” is also holding on to hopes of breaking even theatrically with $5 million in its third weekend, bringing the domestic total for the $55 million sports drama to $38.4 million.

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