Hail Caesar! Again! Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the top choice for ticket buyers at the multiplex, becoming only third film this summer to lead the box office for two weekends in a row (Thor and Transformers: Dark of the Moon were the other two). Outside of the strong runner-up showing for The Help, the frame wasn't as kind to newcomers: Final Destination 5 disappointed, 30 Minutes or Less lived up to diminished expectations and Glee: The 3D Concert Movie couldn't even crack the top-ten. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Gross: $27,500,000 ($104,875,919)
Screens: 3,691 (PSA: $7,451)
Weeks: 2 (change: -50%)
Credit for Rise of the Planet of the Apes's strong box office showing goes to both Rupert Wyatt and Twentieth Century Fox: Wyatt, for directing a film that critics and fans embraced -- something that likely kept the film from dropping the de rigueur 60 percent that most blockbusters tumble in weekend two -- and Fox for finding the perfect release date for its burgeoning franchise. Apes would have probably gotten lost in both June and November, but August -- with its genre-specific releases and diminished box office returns -- was the Goldilocks calendar position: just right.
2. The Help
Gross: $25,525,000 ($35,398,826)
Screens: 2,534 (PSA: $10,073)
Weeks: 1
Speaking of just right, give it up for The Help. The Tate Taylor-directed adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's bestselling novel lived up to its advanced hype, strong reviews (for the most part) and 'A+' Cinemascore to earn an outstanding $25.5 million over the weekend, and over $35 million since opening on Wednesday. That puts it ahead of the opening weekends for both Eat Pray Love and Julie & Julia, and could point The Help toward massive late summer grosses. (Note that The Help had the biggest per screen average of any film in the top-ten.) After all, from now until mid-September, there are precious few films coming out geared toward adults, and -- most important -- precious few geared toward adult women.
3. Final Destination 5
Gross: $18,400,000 (new)
Screens: 3,155 (PSA: $5,832)
Weeks: 1
Perhaps yours truly was a bit bearish about the box office chances for Final Destination 5, but even if that prediction was the highest of high watermarks for the reliable horror franchise, this is still disappointing. Keep in mind that each of the previous three Final Destination sequels opened bigger than the last entry, and that FD5 had some of the strongest reviews yet. Couple that with 3-D surcharges, and the fact that horror fans haven't had anything to line-up for since Scream 4, and this opening should have been bigger. Not that it really matters: Final Destination movies are made on the cheap and still good for between $40 and $60 million overall at the domestic box office. See you for part six in 2013!
4. The Smurfs
Gross: $13,500,000 ($101,545,660)
Screens: 3,427 (PSA: $3,939)
Weeks: 3 (change: -35%)
It turns out it wasn't all that silly for Sony to schedule Smurfs 2 on the calendar after all. The film crossed the $100 million threshold at the domestic box office over the weekend, and earned an additional $60 million in international territories for a ridiculous worldwide total of $242 million. With Spy Kids 4 as the only family film on the schedule until the re-release of The Lion King in 3D on Sept. 16, expect continued success. Pretty smurfing remarkable.
5. 30 Minutes or Less
Gross: $13,000,000 (new)
Screens: 2,888 (PSA: $4,501)
Weeks: 1
In a vacuum, $13 million for an action comedy that features no major stars, a low budget, an R-rating and a mid-August release is actually great; by comparison, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World earned only $10 million on this weekend last summer, and that was rated PG-13. Unfortunately, this isn't a vacuum -- and $13 million for a film with Jesse Eisenberg and Danny McBride in starring roles, directed by Ruben Fleischer coming off Zombieland and released in the Summer of R-Rated Comedies is a bit disappointing. That said, figure 30 Minutes or Less to fight on as a home favorite for slackers and stoners in the years to come.
11. Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
Gross: $5,700,000 (new)
Screens: 2,040 (PSA: $2,794)
Weeks: 1
[Numbers via Box Office Guru]