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'Apes' rise to No. 1 this weekend with US$54m

Published:Monday | August 8, 2011 | 12:00 AM
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Caesar the chimp, a CG animal portrayed by Andy Serkis, and James Franco in 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'.
In this image released by Twentieth Century Fox, Freida Pinto (left) and James Franco are shown in a scene from 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'. - contributed photos
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LOS ANGELES (AP):

Apes have climbed to the top rung of the weekend box office.

According to studio estimates Sunday, Rise of the Planet of the Apes took in US$54 million to open as the No. 1 movie.

That was more than analysts expected for the Apes prequel, though well below the US$68.5 million opening of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake 10 years ago.

The family tale The Smurfs remained at No. 2 for the second-straight weekend with US$21 million, lifting its domestic total to US$76.2 million.

The sci-fi western Cowboys & Aliens, which debuted at No. 1 narrowly ahead of The Smurfs a week earlier, fell to third with US$15.8 million, raising its total to US$67.4 million.

The comedy, The Change-Up, opened a weak No. 4 with US$13.5 million.