Notable Openings This Weekend: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Considering everyone is already claiming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to be the best movie in the history of movies ever times a billion trillion infinity, how can it not make a crap load of bananas this weekend? Yeah, let’s just throw Empire Strikes Back and Dark Knight comparisons around like they are everyday occurrences. But I’m not here to rant about that, and truth be told I am very much looking forward to this movie. The first film back in 2011 was a nice surprise, and all indications are that this will do even better. So let’s break it down like Donkey Kong would a barrel. Is Donkey Kong an ape? I digress.
It helps that there is absolutely no competition whatsoever. Apes is the only wide release this week, and the movie that will finish in second place (Transformers: Age of Extinction) is already two weeks old. Caesar and his friends have the movie theaters to themselves. They can fling nachos and sour patch kids all over the lobby floor if they want to, and no one can stop them.
The other positive is that it’s coming off a very well-liked movie in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. When the summer began though, I felt the fervor for that film had significantly died down. But now with all these insane reviews, every moviegoer in the country is amped up for this. The first one made almost $55 Million opening weekend, which was good for that film at the time. Is it possible for the sequel to get to that $90-$100 Million range like all the other mega money makers so far this summer? Recent events actually dictate that it can. In 2011, X-Men: First Class made just over $55 Million opening weekend, but due to hype and great word of mouth, Days of Future Past skyrocketed past that number to over $90 Million.
How Will It All Break Down…
While I don’t think Apes will have the same jump that X-Men did, due to great reviews and no competition, it will smash the previous film’s opening weekend.
TOP 5 BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS
1) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes — $80 Million
2) Transformers: Age of Extinction — $18 Million
3) Tammy — $13.5 Million
4) 22 Jump Street — $6.5 Million
5) Deliver Us From Evil — $4.5 Million
RELATED ARTICLES:
Review: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (Jason Stives)
Review: Transformers – Age of Extinction (Daniel Cohen)
Review: 22 Jump Street (Daniel Cohen)
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Daniel Cohen is the Film Editor for Pop-Break. Aside from reviews, Daniel does a weekly box office predictions column, and also contributes monthly Top Tens and Op-Ed’s on all things film. Daniel is a graduate of Bates College with a degree in English, and also studied Screenwriting at UCLA. He can also be read on www.movieshenanigans.com. His movie crush is Jessica Rabbit. Follow him on Twitter @dcohenwriter.
