Franchises are supposed to get bigger with each installment, not smaller, so 20th Century Fox will likely be wondering what happened with “War For The Planet Of The Apes.” Despite being one of the best reviewed blockbusters of the summer, getting moviegoers to show up proved to be a challenge.
‘War’ swung into cinemas where it tallied up $56.5 million, an impressive figure at first glance, but notably 22% down from the $72.6 million opening haul of “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.” In fact, the figure is only a couple million more than the first franchise entry, “Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.” Were audiences not feeling Matt Reeves‘ second, super grim entry in the series when the far more fun-loving “Spider-Man: Homecoming” was in cinemas? Indeed, Marvel and Sony‘s movie spun together $45 million in its second weekend, and one can likely assume it proved to be some formidable competition.
The only other movie going into wide release this weekend was Broad Green‘s “Wish Upon,” which proved to be yet another flop for the indie studio. The YA fantasy/horror flick could only manage to scare up $5.5 million. On the one hand, that figure alone makes it the fourth most “successful” flick in their history. However, of the sixteen films they’ve released to date, Broad Green has only had one gross over $20 million: “A Walk In The Woods” starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, which tallied $29 million. Incidentally, half of their releases never cracked $1 million. One wonders how much longer they can sustain on this model of missing the mark.
In box office milestones, “Baby Driver” continues to hold well, and now stands at $73 million domestic, with $100 million in clear sight. Meanwhile, “Wonder Woman” continues to exceed expectations, and is currently sitting at $380 million, with $400 million domestic inevitable at this point.
In limited release: “Lady Macbeth” scored $68,813 on five screens and Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s “Endless Poetry” put together $28,000 on two screens.
1. “War For The Planet Of The Apes” — $56.5 million
2. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” — $45.2 million ($208.2 mil.)
3. “Despicable Me 3” — $18.9 million ($187.9 mil.)
4. “Baby Driver” — $8.7 million ($73.1 mil.)
5. “The Big Sick” — $7.6 million ($16 mil.)
6. “Wonder Woman” — $6.8 million ($380.6 mil.)
7. “Wish Upon” — $5.5 million
8. “Cars 3” — $3.1 million ($140 mil.)
9. “Transformers: The Last Knight” — $2.7 million ($124.8 mil.)
10. “The House” — $1.7 million ($23.1 mil.)