Walt Disney Co.’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes took in $56.5 million to top the box office domestically this weekend, more than industry projections.
The picture, which had been projected to open to $40 million to $50 million, is Disney’s first release of a new film in theaters this year and offers the iconic movie studio a reprieve after a string of expensive misfires. Alan Bergman, co-chair of Disney’s entertainment division, has said it’s among the films he expects to reinvigorate the studio in 2024.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger has made building the film group back to past form a key focus of his second tenure since returning to the company in November 2022. He’s delayed some movies to improve the quality of the studio’s output, and to defer production and marketing expenses. Disney’s other big-budget pictures due this year include Pixar’s Inside Out 2, Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King.
Apes tests the appeal of the movie franchise that Disney acquired as part of the $71.3 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019. The movie’s opening is the second highest in the franchise, surpassing 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes and 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The best performing movie in the series was 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which debuted to $72.6 million and went on to gross $710.6 million globally.
“There might be more opportunity pending the success of the film,” Iger said about the Apes franchise on a May 7 conference call with analysts.
The unit that includes Disney’s film business lost $18 million in the most-recent quarter, with sales down 40%.
The original 1968 Planet of the Apes, with Charlton Heston as an astronaut landing in a world run by primates, is considered a masterpiece of science-fiction storytelling. It immediately spawned four film sequels, two TV series and a bonanza of children’s merchandise from action figures to a toy treehouse.
A 2001 remake starring Mark Wahlberg didn’t fare as well. Fox rebooted the franchise in 2011 with what ultimately became a trilogy starring Andy Serkis as Caesar, the leader of an intelligent ape clan. The new film, which cost about $160 million to make, continues that story of a tribe of peace-loving chimpanzees, this time confronting a rival gorilla faction and a mysterious human visitor.
The latest film is clearly intended to be part of a series, with an ending that suggests there’s more to come. It scored an 80% average approval among critics, according to RottenTomatoes.com, some of whom cited its “visual grandeur,” but found it “not quite as transporting as the previous trilogy.”
