The fourth film in the rebooted Planet of the Apes series, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, has made a big impact at the domestic box office, grossing $58.5 million in its opening weekend at 4,075 theaters. This brings the total global box office earnings for Kingdom to $131 million through Sunday. The Fall Guy, which was the No.1 movie last weekend, dropped to second place with $13.7 million in ticket sales domestically, bringing its total earnings to $49.7 million in the U.S. and $103 million worldwide. Despite this, the action-comedy romance still has a way to go to reach profitability due to its $140 million production budget.
In its third weekend of release, the Zendaya-starring romantic drama Challengers remained in third place at the box office, earning $4.6 million in North America. The film has grossed $38 million domestically against a $55 million production budget. Tarot, a horror thriller, stayed in fourth place with $3.45 million in ticket sales, surpassing its $8 million production budget by earning $12 million domestically. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire rounded out the top five with $2.5 million in its seventh week of release, bringing its total U.S. earnings to $191.8 million against a production budget of $135 million.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to War of The Planet of the Apes and takes place after the death of the ape leader Caesar, played by Andy Serkis in the first three films. The new film follows the story of Noa, an ape played by Owen Teague, who teams up with an orangutan and a human to free captive ape clans from a tyrannical bonobo. Starring William H. Macy and Dichen Lachman, Kingdom had a production budget of $160 million, $30 million less than its predecessor. Upcoming big-budget blockbusters for May include IF, a family fantasy comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, featuring Anya Taylor-Joy as a young Imperator Furiosa.
Overall, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has proven to be a successful addition to the rebooted Planet of the Apes series, outperforming other films at the box office in its opening weekend. Despite facing tough competition from previous top-grossing films like The Fall Guy, the movie managed to capture audiences’ attention and generate significant revenue both domestically and internationally. With several more big-budget blockbusters set to hit theaters in May, the summer movie season is off to a strong start with Kingdom leading the way in box office success.
