'War for the Planet of the Apes' wins a quiet weekend at the box office
"War for the Planet of the Apes," the third movie in 20th Century Fox's reboot of "Planet of the Apes," won the weekend with an estimated $56 million, according to Exhibitor Relations. That's lower than most industry projections.
Though the movie is a critical darling with a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it's serious tone of the battle between apes and man seems to not be attracting the same audience that came to the franchise's previous movie, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," which took in $72.6 million its opening weekend in 2014.
There could be some franchise fatigue to blame for the opening "War" had. Though all three movies have been praised for its strong storytelling and incredible motion-capture technology.
The feel good story at the box office over the weekend is the performance by the Amazon Studios/Lionsgate release, "The Big Sick." The Judd Apatow-produced comedy starring Kumali Nanjiani ("Silicon Valley"), who co-wrote the screenplay with his girlfriend Emily V. Gordon), followed-up its impressive limited release run with a $3.6 million take in the first weekend of its wide release. It now has over $6 million total in its theatrical run.