Dawn of the Planet of the Apes easily took control of the box office on Friday as the film eyes a $70 million opening weekend gross.
The 20th Century Fox sequel to the surprisingly successful Rise of the Planet of the Apes grossed $27.7 million on Friday, with $4.1 million coming from late Thursday showings. Forbes reports that blows past the 2011 film's first full day $19.5 million gross. The $170 million sequel is projected to earn $70 million, but could reach $77 million.
Part of the reason the Andy Serkis-led sequel is performing better than the original film is that Dawn was also released in 3D this time, which the original was not.
Few films opened up this weekend, preferring not to compete with Dawn or the World Cup, which could potentially affect the tentpole on Sunday.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the limited release film Boyhood from Richard Linklater, which was filmed over a 12-year period saw strong box office sales at the five theaters where it currently is available. On Friday the Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette film grossed $102,161 and should pass $300,000 by the end of the weekend.
Holdover wide release films filled out the rest of the top five in the box office behind Dawn, notes Deadline. Transformers: Age of Extinction pulled in $4.46 million and is expected to earn close to $15 million for the weekend, passing the $200 million mark.
Tammy grossed $3.8 million at the third spot and could hit $11.5 million for a total gross of $56.3 million. 22 Jump Street came in fourth with $1.95 million. How To Train Your Dragon 2 continues to earn a little bit, grossing $1.7 million and could pull in $5.4 million for the weekend.
image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com