'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Tops Box Office, 'Change-Up' Hangs Low

August 08, 2011 02:22:11 GMT

Rupert Wyatt's sci-fi movie kicks off with $54.8 million in its first week, while Ryan Reynold-starring comedy does not meet expectation with only $13.5 million.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" swings to the first spot at North American Box Office on its debut weekend. The Rupert Wyatt-directed sci-fi has earned $54.8 million from domestic ticket sales, which is more than the $36.4 million "Cowboys and Aliens" had reached last weekend.

The number is quite big for a summer action movie. It is placed tenth among the top 15 weekend openers since last April, above "Green Lantern" ($53.2 million) and below "X-Men: First Class" ($55.1 million).

According to exit polling, the James Franco-starring movie has attracted mainly male moviegoers (56%) while 59% were over the age of 25 and around 20% were above 50 years old. Most viewers gave this film "A-" CinemaScore grade.

Trailing behind "Apes" at number two is "The Smurfs" with $20.7 million, or dropping about 41% from last week's cume. So far, the animated movie has raked in $76.2 million and it seems to be on its track to gain around $135 million overall.

Last week's chart topper, "Cowboys and Aliens" is falling down to number three with $15.7 million. Meanwhile, another new debut "The Change-Up" doesn't perform as well as expected. The movie only earns $13.5 million, while analysts predicted it would open at about $20 million. "Captain America: The First Avenger" rounds out the top five with $13 million.

Top Ten Movies at Box Office for August 5-7: