Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes Box Office Heading Above $40 Million

With good reviews and little new competition, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes looks on track to exceed expectations and pull in $40 million plus at the U.S. box office this weekend. Initial predictions from box office experts had Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes maxing out at around $30 million, but strong Friday results now have everyone singing a different tune.In a midnight opening in a limited number of locations on Thursday, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes took in $1.3 million. While this number is a far cry from what superheroes, giant robots, and boy wizards pull in for midnight openings, it’s party darn good for a bunch of monkeys in their first movie appearance in ten years. It certainly puts the $700,000 that Cowboys & Aliens (with much bigger star names on the marquee) brought in last weekend to shame.Deadline.com is calling the Friday box office for Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes at $15 million and is predicting a $40 million weekend. BoxOfficeMojo.com is even more optimistic and is putting the opening weekend box office in the $45 million range. One thing is for certain with the latest Planet Of The Apes movie already a winner among critics and exceeding expectations at the box office, look for 20th Century Fox to announce a sequel very soon.