Have apes ever topped the box office? “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” looks to take control this week, as the action packed thriller debuts today.
Set in present day San Francisco, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” brings you through the journey of a man’s scientific experiment, where apes and humans clash in a war for supremacy. Directed by Rupert Wyatt, the movie stars James Franco, who’s been in multiple Spider-Man films and also starred in Sean Penn’s “Milk.”
On the popular website Rotten Tomatoes, according to their “Tomatometer,” the film received an 81% rating, with a “certified fresh” rating. Eighty-seven percent of the audience also liked the movie.
Karina Mitchell of CBS said the movie, “ranks as one of the more entertaining and probably the most thought-provoking of the heavy hitters.” Twentieth Century Fox invested a $90 million budget on the film, with a 105 minute run time.
The latest movie serves as a precursor to the 1968 ape-thriller, “Planet of the Apes,” which stared Roddy McDowall and Charlton Heston.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes looks to take down “Cowboys & Aliens” at the top of the box office this weekend. “Cowboys & Aliens,” a film about aliens trying to take over the world with a 1873 Wild West feel, led the box office for July 29-31 with a weekend gross of $36 million, topping “The Smurfs.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, “apes” is projected to debut at #1 with a gross of $42 million. Also premiering this week is Ryan Renolds and Jason Bateman’s new comedy, “The Change Up.”
Both movies will be playing across the United States this weekend.
