While there had been widely varying expectations for Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes in the run up to its release, most box office analysts expected it would hit somewhere around $35 million in its first weekend. However the movie has exceeded all expectations and ended up with a very good $54 million, far better than anyone had hoped. It’s not as much as Tim Burton’s Planet Of The Apes took when that opened, but with better word of mouth, it may end up making more money in the long run.
If Apes exceeded expectations, the weekend’s other major opener underwhelmed them, with The Change-Up defying the recent trend for gross-out comedies to over-perform, by only taking $13 million to place fourth on the chart. It’s less than most comparable movies, whether you’re looking at raunchy laugh-fests or body-swap pics, suggesting tthat perhaps the two don’t mix.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part II passed another milestone over the weekend, with a big opening in China pushing it up to become the third highest grossing movie of all time at the worldwide box office, behind only Titanic and Avatar. It has little chance of besting either of them, but it’s still a very impressive achievement. The film’s take now stands at $1.13 billion, and it’s likely to add at least another $100 million before it ends it run, to leave a total that’ll be tough to beat.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 5th-7th, 2011.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | Rise Of The Planet of The Apes | $54.0 | $54.0 |
| 2 | The Smurfs | $21.0 | $76.2 |
| 3 | Cowboys & Aliens | $15.7 | $67.3 |
| 4 | The Change-Up | $13.5 | $13.5 |
| 5 | Captain America: the First Avenger | $13.0 | $143.1 |
| 6 | Harry Potter And The Deathy Hallows – Part 2 | $12.1 | $342.8 |
| 7 | Crazy, Stupid Love | $12.1 | $42.1 |
| 8 | Friends With Benefits | $4.7 | $48.5 |
| 9 | Horrible Bosses | $4.6 | $105.1 |
| 10 | Transformers: Dark Of The Moon | $3.0 | $344.1 |