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Movie Monday: ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Takes Box Office Crown

Note to Hollywood: Looking for a surefire star to helm your latest would-be blockbuster? See if you can hire a CGI ape.

While Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire continues to rake in the green, another film with a primate protagonist is pounding its chest. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes rumbled to the top of the weekend’s box-office heap, collecting an estimated $56.5 million in North America.

And really, that domestic tally was just a warmup act for Kingdom. The latest from the Planet of the Apes franchise proved to be an 800-pound gorilla overseas, too, banking $72.5 million from international markets. That means that Kingdom has earned $129 million in its first weekend—not spectacular, but about on par with the franchise’s most recent installments. And given the shaky state of the box office in 2024, a little reliability is, for Hollywood, a welcome thing.

Speaking of shaky, The Fall Guy tumbled from first to second place, gathering up another $13.7 million en route. The lightweight romcom adventure has now earned $49.7 million stateside and $103.7 million worldwide.

Challengers, meanwhile, held tight to third place, earning $4.7 million. The PG-13 horror film Tarot dealt itself a fourth-place finish with just under $3.5 million.

For the seventh straight weekend, the aforementioned Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire landed in the top five—albeit barely. It earned $2.5 million this weekend to hold off Unsung Hero ($2.3 million) for fifth place. Godzilla x Kong has now earned $191.8 million in North America, which makes it the year’s second-biggest film (behind Dune: Part Two and its $281.7 million). And worldwide? The monster mashup has banked $558.7 million. No small bananas, that.

paul-asay
Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.