Box Office: ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Aims for $50 Million-Plus Opening Weekend
Primates will rule (the box office) again!
Disney’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is aiming for $50 million to $55 million from 3,700 theaters in its domestic debut, which will easily be enough to tower over the box office chart. Those ticket sales are roughly even with two of the three prior installments in 20th Century’s rebooted “Planet of the Apes” franchise: 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” opened to $56.2 million and 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” opened to $54.8 million, while 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” notched a series-best $72 million.
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At the international box office, where “Apes” movies tend to make the bulk of their revenues, this installment is tracking to collect $80 million to $90 million. Based on those projections, the film should end up on Sunday with a solid $130 million to $140 million at the global box office.
Directed by Wes Ball, the film — the fourth installment in the rebooted property and 10th in the 56-year-old series — takes place many, many years after the reign of Caesar (the revolutionary leader who was memorably portrayed via motion capture by Andy Serkis). The story follows a young ape named Noa (Owen Teague) as he embarks on a journey with a human named Mae (Freya Allan) to forge a path for the future of the two species.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” cost a hefty $160 million to produce but looks to be well-positioned in its theatrical run as long as the film can ape the ticket sales of its predecessors. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “War for the Planet of the Apes” generated $481 million and $490 million, respectively, while “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” towers as the biggest earner of the series with $710 million globally.
With “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” as this weekend’s sole new release, holdover titles — including last weekend’s champ “The Fall Guy,” Zendaya’s sexy tennis drama “Challengers,” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” — will round out box office charts.
Overall, the domestic box office is down roughly 20% from 2023 and 40% from 2019. As popcorn season heats up, theater owners are looking to upcoming releases like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Despicable Me 4” and “Inside Out 2” to salvage the all-important summer.
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