Weekend Box Office Analysis: August 5-7

Moviegoers went ape shit for 20th Century Fox's Rise of The Planet of the Apes as the reboot opened in first place domestically with an estimated gross of $54M from 3,648 theaters. With only a $93M budget, not counting marketing costs, the Rupert Wyatt directed film averaged a strong $14,803 per theater. Overseas the film which stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis grossed another $23.4M in 26 markets to push its worldwide total to $77.4M after just one weekend. Wow!

The film greatly exceeded expectations and was a hit among critics as well which is not always the case. Apes received an A- CinemaScore, in addition to garnering rave reviews and appealing to all age groups. More women than expected turned out, making up 46 percent of the audience, according to exit polls. The origins pic was down less than 2% from Friday to Saturday, speaking to the huge word of mouth surrounding the film.

The weekend's other new offering, Universal's R-rated comedy The Change-Up, didn’t fare as well, grossing a soft $13.5M from 2,913 theaters only managing to place fourth. Directed by David Dobkin and starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, Change-Up entered a crowed market for raunchy comedies so may audiences have had their fill with Bridesmaids, The Hangover Part II, Bad Teacher and Bateman's other summer film Horrible Bosses all hitting theaters over the last few months. The movie only received a B CinemaScore, and played to older crowds, with 50% of the audience over the age of 30. Universal and Relativity Media co-financed Change-Up, which cost $52M to produce.

Sony’s surprise hit The Smurfs stayed strong in its second weekend, declining less than 42% grossing an estimated $21M to come second place. The $110M 3D big screen adaptation has earned a total of $76.2M. The film also expanded internationally this weekend, bringing in $45.2M for a foreign gross of $52.7M and a worldwide take of $128.9M.

While the Smurfs were narrowly beat by Cowboys & Aliens in North America last weekend, they have now passed up the earnings of the Jon Favreau-directed action thriller. The Universal pic dropped 56.8% and to third for a second weekend of $15.7M and a total of $67.4M to come in third place. The film cost about $163M to make.

Here's how the rest of the Top 10 shakes out:

1. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (Fox) NEW [3,648 Theaters]
Friday $19.7M, Saturday $19.4M, Sunday $14.9M, Weekend $54M

2. The Smurfs - 3D (Sony) Week 2 [3,395 Theaters]
Friday $6M, Saturday $8.2M, Sunday $6.8M, Weekend $21M (-41%), Cume $76.2M

3. Cowboys & Aliens (DreamWorks/Universal) Week 2 [3,754 Theaters]
Friday $4.7M, Saturday $6.4M, Sunday $4.5M, Weekend $15.7M (-57%), Cume $67.3M

4. The Change-Up (Universal) NEW [2,913 Theaters]
Friday $4.7M, Saturday $5M, Sunday $3.7M, Weekend $13.5M

5. Captain America: The First Avenger - 3D (Marvel/Disney/Paramount) Week 3 [3,620 Theaters]
Friday $3.7M, Saturday $5.5M, Sunday $3.9M, Weekend $13.M, Cume $143.1M

6. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 - 3D (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,175 Theaters]
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $5.1M, Sunday $3.9M, Weekend $12.1M, Cume $342.8M

7. Crazy, Stupid, Love (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,020 Theaters]
Friday $3.7M, Saturday $4.9M, Sunday $3.6M, Weekend $12.3M (-36%), Cume $42.1M

8. Friends With Benefits (Sony) Week 3 [2,398 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $1.9M, Sunday $1.4M, Weekend $4.7M, Cume $48.5M

9. Horrible Bosses (New Line/Warner Bros) Week 5 [2,025 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.9M, Sunday $1.4M, Weekend $4.6M, Cume $105.1M

10. Transformers: Dark of The Moon - 3D (Paramount) Week 6 [1,854 Theaters]
Friday $850K, Saturday $1.3M, Sunday $937K, Weekend $3M, Cume $344.1M