Dawn of the Planet of the Apes earned a banana-smashing $73 million in its opening weekend.
That's good news for Fox, because the hotly-anticipated sequel cost a reported $170 million to make.
The new Apes, starring Andy Serkis and Jason Clarke also earned way more out of the gate than the reboot starring James Franco, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," did. That film had a $54 million opening weekend in 2011.
Apes, which had great reviews, bumped Transformers: Age of Extinction, which had the opposite of great reviews, to No. 2 with $6.5 million this weekend. Tammy is No. 3 with $2.9 million.
Overall, box office earnings are still down 24 percent from this weekend last year.
[Via Forbes]
