Beats Chest To $58½M Opening — Monday AM Box Office Update

55m weekend i expect, Indy was released in true summer, and GB in early spring

SATURDAY AM: For those hooked on a theory last weekend that star power no longer works in opening films, their concerns are further underscored this weekend as a bunch of no-name apes are driving 20th Century Studios/Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to what might be the biggest B.O. opening this May of $52M-$55M. This is all fueled by PLFs and Imax screens which are delivering 44% of the weekend’s till. Screen Engine/Comscore PostTrak exits showed that 43% of the moviegoers bought tickets because they love the franchise, natch.

Roaring To $55M-$56M Opening After Strong Saturday

EARLY SUNDAY AM: Moviegoers weren’t monkeying around this weekend, making a destination to cinemas to see Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The movie had a lot of gorilla testosterone and held in there on Saturday amassing an estimated near $20M per non-Disney sources, which is a -10% ease against previews/Friday of $22.2M. Many believe that will get the 20th Century Studios‘ sequel to $55M-$56M at the top of the pic’s range. Great job, Disney, and that’s off a B CinemaScore and 79% Rotten Tomatoes audience score.

MONDAY AM: These apes are going to need a bigger boat for their cash that is as 20th Century Studios‘ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes came in over expectations with a $58.5M opening. Sunday came in at $16.5M, down 19%, a strong attributable to Mother’s Day. Who knew moms were fans of the Planet of the Apes movies? Typical Mother’s Day Saturday to Sunday drops are around the -28% range.

That’s now the third highest opening for an Apes movie after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($72.6M) and Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes ($68.5M). Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes only cost $160M, which is cheaper than Matt Reeves’ War for the Planet of the Apes which cost $190M before P&A. As we said yesterday, there’s hope for summer in a movie that can beat its tracking projections. Not everything is destined to become flat footed.

Perhaps that's the key to Hollywood's box office slump. Put a monkey in everything.

Almost $80m first week, sure to gross $200m. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1678869249/?ref_=bo_da_table_1