Apes wins war with Spider-Man

20th Century Fox’s War for the Planet of the Apes, which stars Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn and Andy Serkis, came in first at last weekend’s box office, pulling in about $56.3 million.
20th Century Fox’s War for the Planet of the Apes, which stars Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn and Andy Serkis, came in first at last weekend’s box office, pulling in about $56.3 million.

LOS ANGELES -- Move over, Spidey. Last weekend's box office belongs to the apes.

20th Century Fox's War for the Planet of the Apes pulled in about $56.3 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, good enough for first place in its debut weekend.

"What sets this modern trilogy apart is that it's not a gratuitous sequel," said Chris Aronson, the studio's distribution chief. "This is epic episodic storytelling." (It is also No. 9 in the long-running Apes franchise.)

The latest addition, which first sprouted its legs in 1968, showcases the battle between apes and humans. It's directed by Matt Reeves, who also headed 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Much ado has been made about the film's use of updated technology that enlivens Andy Serkis' lead ape. But with Woody Harrelson's addition to the franchise as the villain and Steve Zahn as Bad Ape, there's much more to the tale than great visual effects.

Perhaps that's why the picture has been well-reviewed by audiences and critics. Moviegoers (57 percent males; 63 percent 25 and older) gave it an A-minus Cinema-Score, and it has a 94 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Chernin Entertainment-produced film cost $152 million to make.

Spider-Man: Homecoming from Columbia fell to second place in its second week with $44.2 million. Although the 61 percent week-to-week drop is surely deeper than the studio had hoped for, the $175 million film has already brought in $207.3 million domestically to date.

Universal's Despicable Me 3 continues to hold strong, coming in third in its third week at $19.3 million for a domestic gross to date of $188.4 million. Worldwide, the animated flick tallies at $619.4 million.

Baby Driver, also in its third week, landed in fourth place with $8.7 million. The Columbia release has pulled in about $73 million domestically.

Rounding out the top five was Amazon/Lionsgate's small but mighty The Big Sick. The film, which was never pegged to expand to the more than 2,500 theaters, is in its fourth week and brought in $7.5 million over the weekend. Stellar reviews and word of mouth clued the studio in that the picture might be an effective chance for counterprogramming (Hollywood's handy term for a film that isn't like the others) and decided to distribute the movie to significantly more theaters.

"It's amazing that this independent film has found its footing as a family movie among all the summer blockbusters," said Bob Berney, Amazon's head of marketing and distribution. The comedy and universal themes are connecting with audiences across the country.

Sick, directed by Michael Showalter, was written by Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, Emily Gordon, about their early courtship. Nanjiani stars as a version of himself, an aspiring comic, while Zoe Kazan plays Gordon in the Judd Apatow-produced romantic comedy.

The only other wide release over the weekend was Broad Green's Wish Upon. The dismally reviewed horror film starring Joey King, Ryan Phillippe and Ki Hong Lee pulled in $5.5 million.

Opening in theaters today will be Warner Bros.' WWII action thriller Dunkirk, STX's sci-fi tales Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and Universal's Girls Trip.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:

  1. War for the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox, $56,262,929, 4,022 locations, $13,989 average, $56,262,929, 1 week.

  2. Spider-Man: Homecoming, Columbia, $44,205,210, 4,348 locations, $10,167 average, $207,275,524, 2 weeks.

  3. Despicable Me 3, Universal, $19,357,565, 4,155 locations, $4,659 average, $188,399,715, 3 weeks.

  4. Baby Driver, Columbia, $8,714,045, 3,043 locations, $2,864 average, $73,115,902, 3 weeks.

  5. The Big Sick, Lionsgate, $7,529,590, 2,597 locations, $2,899 average, $15,966,414, 4 weeks.

  6. Wonder Woman, Warner Bros., $6,802,386, 2,744 locations, $2,479 average, $380,603,464, 7 weeks.

  7. Wish Upon, Broad Green Pictures, $5,467,084, 2,250 locations, $2,430 average, $5,467,084, 1 week.

  8. Cars 3, Disney, $3,119,815, 2,049 locations, $1,523 average, $139,984,315, 5 weeks.

  9. Transformers: The Last Knight, Paramount, $2,843,587, 2,323 locations, $1,224 average, $124,952,206, 4 weeks.

  10. The House, Warner Bros., $1,732,777, 1,633 locations, $1,061 average, $23,067,335, 3 weeks.

  11. 47 Meters Down, Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, $1,139,580, 1,032 locations, $1,104 average, $41,136,686, 5 weeks.

  12. The Beguiled, Focus Features, $921,645, 726 locations, $1,269 average, $9,394,214, 4 weeks.

  13. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Disney, $509,535, 399 locations, $1,277 average, $386,571,925, 11 weeks.

  14. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Disney, $496,332, 448 locations, $1,108 average, $170,047,218, 8 weeks.

  15. Jagga Jasoos, UTV Communications, $490,232, 210 locations, $2,334 average, $490,232, 1 week.

  16. The Mummy, Universal, $362,190, 401 locations, $903 average, $78,986,220, 6 weeks.

  17. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, 20th Century Fox, $331,738, 277 locations, $1,198 average, $71,163,113, 7 weeks.

  18. The Hero, The Orchard, $326,637, 315 locations, $1,037 average, $3,384,747, 6 weeks.

  19. The Little Hours, Gunpowder & Sky, $292,010, 105 locations, $2,781 average, $663,232, 3 weeks.

  20. Maudie, Sony Pictures Classics, $246,401, 99 locations, $2,489 average, $3,540,083, 5 weeks.

MovieStyle on 07/21/2017

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