Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes rose to the top of the mighty kingdom with $56.5 million in its domestic debut, about on par with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011 and War for the Planet of the Apes in 2017. A $129 million global launch is also in line with these predecessors, so good legs will tell us whether Disney acquiring Fox (outside of maybe Deadpool & Wolverine in the summer) was a good call and for one IP to finally reign supreme that wasn’t originally conceived under the Mouse House. Budgeted at $160 million, this will need to break even around $350 million globally, which is possible with this start.
Even though it’s unlikely to reach $491 million like its 2017 predecessor, over/under $400 million in earnings could solidify this as a win for Disney and 20th Century Studios. One could easily asseverate that had Marvel/DC not slowly risen to the ranks it did in the 2010s, this IP would be leading the pack in some regard. And with another return after several years that didn’t crash and burn (think Indiana Jones 5 or Star Trek Beyond), moviegoers seem more than “OK” with another Apes work.
Disney has been clawing for new territory to work outside the typical MCU affair or another (optimistic) Pixar hit that is brand new. However, nothing has been reaching for the skies (to quote an infamous cowboy) except for the continuation of James Cameron’s Avatar works or Ryan Reynolds’s new monopolization of Free Guy. The Simpsons works thanks to the Hulu integration, but nothing else continues to run. Wes Ball’s latest picture could be a win for Disney in the summer but is uncomfortably bombarded with a cornucopia of other skewed demographic features. That B from CinemaScore and positive reviews will try its best against the rest of the competition, starting with John Krasinski’s IF next weekend.
In other news, The Fall Guy earned $13.7 million in its second weekend. The good news is it’s ahead of Bullet Train and The Lost City regarding second-weekend drop-offs. Still, the bad news is that it’ll trail both films domestically and has already taken a beating overseas (thanks to The Garfield Movie’s early release in multiple international territories). It “just” has passed $100 million globally, which means it will not have enough to fight with its stunt coordinators to reach $200 million globally (unless China and Japan adore it). It’s another unfortunate flub for a (wonderfully fun) big-wide release that should’ve opened a weekend or two earlier or made a bigger deal of Ryan Gosling leading the pack.
Challengers will pass $70 million globally sometime tomorrow, coming in third this weekend with $4.68 million. Tarot came fourth with $3.45 million, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is clawing to pass Kong: Skull Island to become the highest-earning MonsterVerse film. It’s also eeking it out to reach as close to $200 million domestically, much like Kung Fu Panda 4 (who am I kidding, these March brotherens are still holding out for a little bit longer). In an odd sense, these two were trying for a redux of the Barbenheimer shtick, but aside from them not releasing at the same time, A) China still is not making enough of a difference to push them higher anymore, and B) these are IPs folks are rediscovering/maintaining interests in, not the new guys jumping in with brand new material to usher into the multiplex. At least both made their studios very proud for the past three months when not much else was lingering around. Time to pass the banner over to IF, The Garfield Movie, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Inside Out 2, A Quiet Place: Day One, Despicable Me 4, and Deadpool & Wolverine for the summer ride.
Oh, and The Phantom Menace‘s 25-year reissue crashed with $1.5 million in its second weekend; “free money,” I guess?
Next weekend sees the release of IF, Back to Black, The Strangers: Chapter One, Babes, and You Can’t Run Forever.
