'Apes' swings to second week atop the box office
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" topped the box office in the U.S and Canada for a second week, outselling three new releases.
The summer sequel from 21st Century Fox Inc. generated ticket sales of $36 million, bringing its total domestic gross so far to $139 million, researcher Rentrak Corp. said today in an e-mailed statement. Horror producer Jason Blum's "The Purge: Anarchy" placed second with $28.4 million in its debut, while Walt Disney Co.'s "Planes: Fire and Rescue" was third.
Fox now has six releases that have surpassed $100 million in domestic ticket sales this year, and leads Hollywood studios with more than $1.1 billion in sales. Rupert Murdoch's company is trying to buy rival Time Warner Inc., the No. 2 studio with about $970 million in domestic sales to date.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" cost an estimated $170 million to make, according to Box Office Mojo. It's selling at a faster pace than its predecessor, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," the 2011 film that made $55 million in its first weekend and $177 million in its domestic theatrical run. The first film had a production budget of $93 million.
Universal Pictures' "The Purge: Anarchy" is a sequel to last year's "The Purge," an R-rated horror film in which 12 hours of lawlessness can go unpunished.
Made in Los Angeles with a budget of $9 million, the latest installment follows a couple driving home to their children when their car runs out of gas just as the so-called Purge starts. Meanwhile, a police sergeant sets out to get revenge on the man who killed his son, and a mother and daughter run from their home after assailants destroy it. All five meet as they attempt to survive the night in Los Angeles.
The sequel is written and directed by James DeMonaco, whose directorial credits include the original "The Purge," "The Negotiator" and "Assault on Precinct 13."
"The Purge: Anarchy" was forecast to debut with $28 million in weekend ticket sales, according to BoxOffice.com.
The film "ups the ante and the gore," and is "a good deal better than its predecessor," Betsy Sharkey wrote in a review for the Los Angeles Times.
Walt Disney Co.'s animated sequel "Planes: Fire and Rescue" opened in third place with $18 million in box-office receipts. The first film, a spinoff of the Pixar hit "Cars" that was originally developed for home video, generated $22 million when it opened last summer, going on to earn $90.3 million in the U.S. and Canada.