20th Century Studios‘ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is off to a good start racking in $6.6M on Thursday. This also doesn’t take into account the $1.6M it made during fan shows on Wednesday. A $55 million opening is now being eyed for the film — I’m betting it’ll be higher. Its budget is said to be around $160 million.
This would make ‘Kingdom’ the best Thursday night ever for an ‘Apes’ movie besting 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” which did $5M. The best ever weekend opening for an ‘Apes’ movie would be “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” which had a $4.25M Thursday before racking up a 3-day total of $72.6M.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. You can read my “B” graded review. It’s very watchable, old-school affair that, although it doesn’t reach the heights of Matt Reeves’ ‘War,’ sets up quite nicely an inevitable new trilogy. At 145 minutes, it’s a little too long, with some dull stretches, but I’ll take it.
Following “Air,” this is Affleck’s latest stint behind the camera. He has cast himself in the lead role, alongside Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, and Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”).