Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Starts Strong, Biggest For 20th Century Since Avatar 2

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes opened in theaters this past weekend and it had a strong start. The movie made $56.5 million in North America for the Friday-Sunday period. It made $72.5 million from international markets. Combined, the film opened globally with $129 million.

For the domestic numbers specifically, $56.5 million is the second-best start of the new Apes series, trailing only Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($72.6 million). It's also the best start ever for director Wes Ball, who previously made the Maze Runner movies. What's more, it's the biggest opening for movie studio 20th Century since Avatar: The Way of Water premiered in December 2022 (via Fandango's Erik Davis).

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had a reported $160 million production budget, and this doesn't include any advertising expenses, according to Variety.

Overall, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the 10th Planet of the Apes movie dating back to the franchise's debut in 1968 that starred Charlton Heston. This newest movie is set years after the reign of Andy Serkis' Caesar. It tells the story of a young ape named Noa (Owen Teague) who befriends a human named Mae (Freya Allan) as they try to foster peace between humans and apes.

Ball is set to direct a live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda next. He recently said Zelda was one of the last "untapped" properties that was due for a cinematic adaptation.

GameSpot's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes review scored the film a 7/10.

"It's the sort of movie that will probably leave you with some unnecessarily nagging questions, but as an experience, it's unique and well-constructed enough that I can overlook most of those issues," reviewer Phil Owen said.