From ew [excerpt], In a crowded field that featured four new movies, last week’s winner, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, managed to keep its top spot on the box-office chain by recruiting $27.5 million. Fox’s sci-fi action film dropped 50 percent in its second weekend. That’s a decent hold, as most summer action flicks decline 55 to 60 percent. Apes will cross the $100 million mark today and has already surpassed its relatively modest $90 million production budget. As a result, it’s looking likely that we’ll be seeing more of Caesar the chimpanzee (and less of the human race) in the future.
Not far behind was The Help, which surprised the industry with a substantial $25.5 million. Disney released the PG-13 drama on Wednesday in an attempt to build buzz heading into the weekend. That strategy seems to have paid off. The Help, based on Kathryn Stockett’s bestselling novel and starring Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, and Bryce Dallas Howard, grossed a combined $9.9 million on Wednesday and Thursday — boosting its five-day total to $35.4 million. It also garnered a rare A+ rating from CinemaScore audiences, which means the film should be benefiting from exceptional word of mouth. Adult women were the driving force behind the $25 million movie’s success this weekend. According to Disney, 74 percent of the audience was female and 60 percent was over the age of 35.
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