DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES SHINES AGAIN

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes came in ahead of analysts’ predictions over the weekend to earn $36 million at the domestic box office in its second week, according to studio estimates. Its domestic gross has already reached $139 million. The horror flick The Purge: Anarchy, which had climbed above Apes on Friday, settled for second place for the weekend with a $28.3 million opening. Since it cost only about $8 million to produce, it is already profitable for Universal. But Sony’s Cameron Diaz-Jason Segel comedy Sex Tape, which also was expected to be a box-office contender, disappointed with $15 million, to place fourth behind the Disney animated film Planes: Fire and Rescue, which finished third with $18 million. Overall, the box office was down 24 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Rentrak:
1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, $36 million; 2. The Purge: Anarchy, $28.4 million; 3. Planes: Fire & Rescue, $18 million; 4. Sex Tape, $15 million; 5. Transformers: Age of Extinction, $10 million; 6. Tammy, $7.6 million; 7. 22 Jump Street, $4.7 million; 8. How to Train Your Dragon 2, $3.8 million; 9. Maleficent, $3.3 million; 9. (A tie for now) Earth to Echo, $3.3 million.