“The Plant of the Apes” climbs to the top of the North American box office

“Planet of the Apes: The New Kingdom”, the latest installment of the ape science fiction saga, topped the North American box office for its first weekend in theaters, the firm said on Sunday specialized in Exhibitor Relations.

With 56.5 million dollars in revenue between Friday and Sunday, the film from 20th Century Studios obtained one of the best results of the year in American and Canadian cinemas.

“This is an excellent start to the 10th installment of an action film franchise,” said David Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, adding that international revenues were “excellent.”

The story of “New Kingdom” takes place three centuries after the previous part, “Supremacy”, in a world now totally controlled by talking primates, while humans reduced to the wild survive on the fringes of civilization.

In second place, the action film “The Fall Guy” stumbled, reaching only half of its first weekend’s revenue in theaters, with just $13.7 million.

David Leitch’s feature film, loosely inspired by a 1980s television series (“The Falling Man”), shows Ryan Gosling as an experienced stuntman who must recover from a serious injury sustained during a filming in order to save a former conquest, played by the British Emily Blunt, from a mysterious but very real threat.

“Challengers,” the tennis-based romance headlined by Zendaya, is once again in third place with $4.7 million. The 27-year-old American actress and singer plays a tennis prodigy at the center of a love triangle in this subversive drama, in which rivalry, friendship and love intertwine.

The horror film “The Cards of Evil” is in fourth place this week with 3.5 million dollars, already exceeding its budget of eight million dollars in two weeks of release.

The feature film “Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom” brings up the rear of the top 5, with 2.5 million dollars. The immense reptile and the famous gorilla fight side by side this time.

Here is the rest of the top 10:

6. “Unsung Hero” (2,3 millions de dollars)

7. “Kung Fu Panda 4” (2 millions)

8. “Civil War” (1,8 million)

9. “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” (1.5 million)

10. “Abigail” (1,1 million)