It looks like all the release date shuffling that Twentieth Century Fox did with Rise of the Planet of the Apes paid off. The critically loved summer entry (with some notable exceptions) exceeded expectations throughout the day on Friday and wound up grossing $19.75 million during its opening day. That puts Apes on track for a three-day weekend tally of over $50 million, making it one of summer's biggest box office surprises. Perhaps not as surprising was that audiences rejected The Change-Up like it was baby poop; the Ryan Reynolds-Jason Bateman body switch comedy earned just $4.5 million on Friday night, bad enough for fourth place. Your Friday Box Office is here.
1. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES: $19.75 million (new)
2. THE SMURFS: $5.7 million ($60.9 million)
3. COWBOYS & ALIENS: $4.6 million ($56.2 million)
4. THE CHANGE-UP: $4.5 million (new)
5. CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST AVENGER: $3.7 million ($133.8 million)
[Estimates via Deadline]