2023 was a year of optimism for movie theaters, with several phenomena that exceeded all expectations in terms of collection, but the first third of 2024, apart from two or three positive news, is not following the upward trend of the course former. Luckily for the industry, The apes are already arriving ready to try to refloat the ship.
They will not be salvation, but they will be an important help. According to Variety, ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’, the continuation of the trilogy of films from the 2010s that told us the story of Caesar, and which takes place 300 years after them, is expected to gross between 50 and 55 million dollars in its first weekend in the United States and Canada.
This would bring the film directed by Wes Ball closer to the 56.2 million that ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ achieved (2017) at its premiere, and could surpass the 54.8 million of ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ (2011). It will be far away, however, from the magnificent debut of the second part of the trilogy, ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’, which earned $72 million in its first weekend in the domestic market.
Internationally, a collection of more than 80 million is expected, which would place ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ with a solid premiere around 130 and 140 million global dollars. The film cost 160 million, so it is on its way to making profits for Disney.
The third best premiere of the year
Forecasts are still fickle. A premiere in the domestic market of ‘The Specialist’ was expected to be around 40 million and had to settle for 28.5 million. But if they are met in this case, the 140 million dollars of ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ would serve to surpass ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ and become the third film with the best debut of 2024.
It would only be surpassed by ‘Dune: Part Two’, which earned $182.5 million, and by the surprising ‘Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire’, which raked in 194 million in its first weekend.
