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

"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 an estimated $54 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 estimated $21 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 estimated $15.8 million. Meanwhile, another new debut "The Change-Up" doesn't perform as well as expected. The movie only earns approximately $13.5 million, while analysts predicted it would open at about $20 million. "Captain America: The First Avenger" rounds out the top five with approximately $13 million. 

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

1. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" - $54 million
2. "The Smurfs" - $21 million
3. "Cowboys and Aliens" - $15.8 million
4. "The Change-Up" - $13.5 million
5. "Captain America: The First Avenger" - $13 million
6. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II" - $12.2 million
7. "Crazy, Stupid, Love." - $12.1 million
8. "Friends With Benefits" - $4.7 million
9. "Horrible Bosses" - $4.6 million
10. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" - $3 million

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