Almost 60 years after the franchise first came to movie theaters, the latest installment of the “Planet of the Apes” series roared to success in its first weekend.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” hauled in $58.5 million in America and $72.7 million overseas for weekend start of $131.2 million. The movie was also projected to rake in $56.5 million in North America on Sunday, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The numbers make the film the third-best opening of 2024 domestically, and the second-best in the long history of the franchise.

While the apes rose, “The Fall Guy” fell below expectations by taking in $27.7 million over the May 3-5 period, below estimates that it would take in $32 million to $35 million.

The summer movie season is crucial as Hollywood comes off a year that has been branded as “disastrous.”

“After the pandemic and the strikes, the movie industry just hasn’t been able to catch a break,” said Shawn Robbins, a film consultant and box office analyst, according to The Hill. “’Fall Guy’ sort of had to shoulder the burden of being the big summer opener, but we’re still seeing the tail end of the effects of those delays.”

However, a report in the New York Post said some forecasts predict the summer season box office take will be $1 billion below last year.

But while others struggle, Yahoo U.K. contributor Tom Beasley called the series “unkillable, unstoppable, and, at the box office, unbeatable.”

That was seconded by Jesse Hassenger in a column for The Guardian.

“The original ‘Planet of the Apes’ came out in 1968 — and based on first weekend box office and positive reviews for ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,’ the latest installment of a rebooted series that began in 2011, the series will probably remain when the first movie reaches its 60th anniversary in just four years. This may be the most purely resilient series in Hollywood,” he wrote.

“All four movies showcase some truly astonishing special effects, fusing the lifelike detail of cutting-edge computer graphics with the ineffably human weight of real actors — perfect for movies about redefining humanity, where it can be found, and how it might persevere (or not) over the years,” he wrote of the current series.

“This is the rare long-running franchise that doesn’t feel wrung dry by the wrenching demands of nostalgia or the sheer number of spent ideas. ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ may ultimately play it safe with some of its more provocative ideas, opting to punt some developments into the realm of future installments’ problem. But one of those ideas speaks precisely to why the apes endure,” he continued.

“The real main character is the ticking clock running on this world’s potential ruin.”

I saw Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes last night and omg this movie was fantastic. Just like the other Planet of the Apes, it has a lot of heart and action, the expressions and emotions of the apes are amazing . This movie was fantastic #KingdomOfThePlanetOfTheApes pic.twitter.com/xBjtxb7xPn

— Paris (@Paris10574066) May 10, 2024

Director Wes Ball said the franchise has a lot of stories left to tell, according to Yahoo U.K,

“We’ve been talking about it for years now, this movie, and where ultimately we want to go and setting up things subtly that we think we can pay off in the future movies. There’s plenty of stuff to do there, so we’re excited and hopeful that we can continue on with this series and contribute something to this crazy franchise that’s lasted for so long,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of story to tell before [the original]. [We] still have to blow up the Statue of Liberty. We’ve still got to erase almost all signs of humanity. We’ve got to get apes to decide to erase all concept, all knowledge, of what humans were for some reason, right?”

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