Box Office: ‘Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Swings With $72.6M Weekend; ‘Boyhood’ Mans Up With Strong Per Screen

ANITA BUSCH

July 14, 2014 at 4:57 PM

Box Office: ‘Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Swings With $72.6M Weekend; ‘Boyhood’ Mans Up With Strong Per Screen

UPDATED, Monday 1:57 PM: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, brought in, as we reported this AM a total take of $72.6M for the three-day weekend (which included $4.1M in Thursday late nights). This, after it took in $31.3M overseas so it has a worldwide total of $103M+ already and it has barely begun its international run.

The Matt Reeves-directed film had a wonderful Saturday and ended up with an A- CinemaScore so audiences loved it as much as the critics. Sunday moviegoing was off for all films, probably due to the World Cup Finals and the nice weather. Fox’s other film, How to Train Your Dragon 2 had a great hold from Saturday to Sunday but will be hit by Disney’s Planes: Fire and Rescue when it bows next weekend. Apes should have at least two solid weeks of play before audiences look to Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy to keep them entertained when it bows on August 1. Transformers: Age of Extinction — in its third weekend of release — crossed $200M on Saturday.

Sony opens Sex Tape next weekend in hopes of making it pop over its estimated $42M+ budget. I’ve seen it and yes, it starts out raunchy, but it is really funny and even, at times, hilarious. The guys will go to see a naked Cameron Diaz and the girls will go see tall drink of water Jason Segel, but it’s really for couples. Rob Lowe also co-stars in this film from the next generation Kasden — Jake — who directed the two in Bad Teacher.

The other movie opening next weekend is Universal’s horror film, The Purge: Anarchy. And, after seeing the one-sheet, I certainly hope they aren’t running those teaser one-sheets reminiscent of the Joker around the Cinemark Theater in Colorado where it will be in the marketplace during the two-year mark of the theater shooting. To me and others who suffered through that, it’s a hard image to look at … sort of like the geniuses who came up with The Strain one-sheets that people don’t want to see either. “Not for everyone.” Indeed. The Purge is bowing today and over the weekend in 14 overseas markets. The chart follows:

1). Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (FOX), 3,967 theaters / 3-day cume: $72.6M / Per screen average: $18,304 / Wk 1

2). Transformers: Age of Extinction (PAR), 3,913 theaters (-320) / 3-day cume: $16.3M (-56%) / Per screen average: $4,166 / Total cume: $208.8M / Wk 3

3). Tammy (WB), 3,465 theaters (0) /3-day cume: $12.5M (-42%) / Per screen average: $3,623 / Total cume: $56.9M / Wk 2

4). 22 Jump Street (SONY), 2,811 theaters (-513) / 3-day cume: $6.5M (-34%) / Per screen average: $2,313 / Total cume: $171.7M / Wk 5

5). How to Train Your Dragon 2 (FOX), 2,885 theaters (-412) / 3-day cume: $6M / Per screen average: $2,105 / Total cume: $152.2M (-32%) / Wk 5

6). Earth to Echo (REL), 3,230 theaters (0) / 3-day cume: $5.48M (-34%) / Per screen average: $1,699 / Total cume: $24.5M / Wk 2

7). Deliver Us From Evil (SONY), 3,049 theaters (0) / 3-day cume: $4.7M (-51%) / Per screen average: $1,558 / Total cume: $25M / Wk 2

8). Maleficent (DIS), 2,077 theaters (-312) /3-day cume: $4.1M (-32%) / Per screen average: $2,013 / Total cume: $222M / Wk 7

9). Begin Again (TWC), 939 theaters (+764) / 3-day cume: $2.8M (+124%) / Per screen: $3,004 / Total cume: $5.1M / Wk 3

10). Jersey Boys (WB) 1,968 theaters (-662) / 3-day cume: $2.5M (-51%) / Per screen average: $1,279 / Total cume: $41.7M / Wk 4

11).Think Like a Man Too (SONY), 1,231 theaters (-498) / 3-day cume: $2.4M (-51%) / Per screen average: $1,950 / Total cume: $61.8M / Wk 4

12). America (LGF), 1,105 theaters (0) / 3-day cume: $2.39M (-13%) / Per screen average: $2,166 / Total cume: $8.2M / Wk 3

13). Edge of Tomorrow (WB), 1,103 theaters (-435) / 3-day cume: $1.8M (-50%) / Per screen average: $1,644 / Total cume: $94.4M / Wk 6

14). The Fault in Our Stars (FOX), 1,002 theaters (-863) / 3-day cume: $1.5M (-40%) / Per screen average: $1,503 / Total cume: $119.6M / Wk 6

15). Chef (OPRD), 701 theaters (+15) / 3-day cume: $1.2M (-26%) / Per screen average: $1,796 / Total cume: $24M / Wk 10

16). X-Men: Days of Future Past (FOX), 655 theaters (-389) / 3-day cume: $1M (-46%) / Per screen average: $1,565 / Total cume: $229.1M / Wk 8

17). Snowpiercer (RAD), 356 theaters (+106) / 3-day cume: $635K (-37%) / Per screen average: $1,785 / Total cume: $2.6M / Wk 3

18). Rio 2 (FOX), 285 theaters (-26) / 3-day cume: $392K (+6%) / Per screen average: $1,376 / Total cume: $129.6M / Wk 14

19). Boyhood (IFC), 5 theaters / 3-day cume: $387K / Per screen average: $77,524 / Wk 1

20). Humpty Sharma Ki Dul (NR/BIGP), 101 theaters / 3-day cume: $380K / Per screen average: $3,762 / Wk 1

9th UPDATE, Monday 8:13 AM: The final number for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes looks to be $72.6M this AM (closer to our Saturday estimate) after a Sunday where almost every film came in just slightly lower than expected (except the family films which stayed fairly true to their yesterday estimates). Both of Fox’s films in the Top Ten — Apes and How To Train Your Dragon 2 — had the softest percentage drops on Sunday; they are quality films. So what happened on Sunday for all parties? The World Cup final between Argentina and Germany probably shaved off a bit, along with the good weather. With $72.6M, it’s a strong opening for Apes, and it can expect at least two weeks of great play as there is nothing to challenge it until Guardians Of The Galaxy bows on August 1; the distribution date was really well-chosen by the studio. Boyhood looks to take higher than expected with $388K for an impressive $77,600K per screen.

8th UPDATE, Sunday, 7:30 AM: Fantastic debut for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes which, by all accounts this AM, grabbed another $25.78M last night and could land anywhere between $73M and $74M+, depending on the percentage drop that Sunday moviegoing brings. If it drops only 20% today, it will hit $74.2M but if it drops 25% it will be around $72.85M. That’s the math behind the determination. It’ll likely fall somewhere in between. By the way, although it didn’t have IMAX, about 8% of the gross (or $5.8M) was generated by large format screens with 36% generated by 3-D.

The only fly in the ointment is the World Cup final today that might affect business slightly. To that point, Fox has been careful opening this picture internationally with just a few territories this weekend — the biggest being South Korea — and Latin America and the rest of Europe will come after the World Cup gets out of the way. Stay tuned for those numbers and the latest on Transformers: Age of Extinction‘s international tally via Nancy Tartaglione’s international report here. Overall, the business is down 5.1% from the record-setting year last year.

We knew that Apes would do better business than it was tracking, having seen the want- to-see figures earlier in the week and, as we reported Friday, we thought it might go over $70M. “It was a confluence of events that made this happen,” said Fox domestic distribution president Chris Aronson. “It started with the critical response which matched the audience response. Quality ends up ruling at the end of the day, and Rise was such a quality film so the anticipation was high. The passion that was brought to the project by Matt Reeves and the characters developed by (wife/husband team) Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa and, of course, Andy Serkis was so great in the role. This property is firmly planted as a very strong franchise.” And nothing to stop it until Aug. 1 when The Guardians of the Galaxy bows.

The one-sheet teaser for this film that featured the striking image of Caesar (Serkis) in war paint; that image, I was told was done by Fox creative exec Arnaldo D’Alfonso and former Fox exec Tony Sella created an earlier teaser for last year’s Comic-Con for Apes. Sella always was a creative genius. It was that wonderful teaser that really launched the first impression of the film; it was arresting and powerful and set the picture’s tone. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes just helped the studio reach a benchmark: The first to cross the $1 billion mark this year domestically (see related story). Well done to both guys.

The other one we’ve been watching is the Oscar-worthy Boyhood which debuted this weekend in five theaters, courtesy of IFC Films, a division of AMC Networks (which bankrolled the Richard Linklater coming-of-age film over its 12 years). It has been doing gangbusters this weekend and its new estimate is $360K to $385K bringing its per screen average up to anywhere between 72K and $77K. (It all depends on the percentage drop on Sunday). Excellent news for everyone involved this AM. On a budget of roughly $2.5M, it won’t be hard to make its money back. It has already made $3.2M overseas — of course, it doesn’t reap anywhere near that — but it should continue to build its audience based on terrific word of mouth.

Also worth noting is that TWC’s Begin Again, which expanded this weekend into 939 theaters, ended up breaking into the Top Ten this weekend and will bring in about $2.9M for a respectable per screen of $3,126. TWC has one of the best distribution teams around so kudos there. Also, remember Jon Favreau’s audience favorite Chef? It’s now up to $24M+ thanks, in part, to the team at Open Road. The second weekends of Tammy (which held well only down 40%), Earth To Echo (down only 34% but got run over by Dragon 2) and Deliver Us From Evil (-51%) as well as the third weekend of Transformers which dropped 55% to bring in around $16.7M and passed $200M … and Jersey Boys which ended up at No. 10, are all in the chart below. By the way, all three sophomore pics kept their theaters this weekend:

1). Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (FOX), 3,967 theaters / $27.8M Friday / $27.8M 3-day cume: $70M+ / Wk 1

2). Transformers: Age of Extinction (PAR), 3,913 theaters (-320) / $4.9M Fri. (-58%) / $6.6M Sat. / $5.3M Sun. (-20%) / 3-day est. cume: $16.7M (-55%) / Total est. cume: $209M+ / Wk 3

3). Tammy (WB), 3,465 theaters (0) / $4M Fri. / $5M Sat. / $3.7M Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $12.9M (-40%) / Total cume: $57.3M / Wk 2

4). 22 Jump Street (SONY), 2,811 theaters (-513) / $2M Fri. / $2.58M Sat. / $1.9M Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $6.57M (-33%) / Total cume: $171.8M / Wk 5

5). How to Train Your Dragon 2 (FOX), 2,885 theaters (-412) / $1.76M Fri. / $2.35M Sat. / $1.87M Sun. (-20%) / 3-day cume: $5.5M / Total cume: $152.1M (-34%) / Wk 5

6). Earth to Echo (REL), 3,230 theaters (0) / $1.75M Fri. / $2.1M Sat. / $1.58M Sun. (-20%) / 3-day cume: $5.5M (-34%) / Total cume: $24.6M / Wk 2

7). Deliver Us From Evil (SONY), 3,049 theaters (0) / $1.56M Fri. / $1.8M Sat. / $1.3M Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $4.7M (-51%) / Total cume: $25.1M / Wk 2

8). Maleficent (DIS), 2,077 theaters (-312) / $1.2M Fri. / $1.65M Sat. / $1.34M Sun. -20% / 3-day cume: $4.69M (-33%) / Total cume: $221.9M / Wk 7

9). Begin Again (TWC), 939 theaters (+764) / $824K Fri. /$1.17M Sat. / $938K Sun. (-35%) / 3-day cume: $2.9M (+134%) / Per screen: $3,126 / Total cume: $5.3M / Wk 3

10). Jersey Boys (WB) 1,968 theaters (-662) / $709K Fri. / $1M Sat. / $782K Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $2.5M (-55%) / Total cume: $41.7M / Wk 4

NOTEWORTHY: Boyhood (IFC), 5 theaters / $102,161 Fri. / $157K Sat. / $126K Sun. (-25%) / Per screen: $72K to $77K per theater average / 3-day cume: $360K to $385K / Wk 1

11). America (LGF), 1,105 theaters (0) / $723K Fri. / $948K Sat. / $710K Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $2.4M (-13%) / Total cume: $8.2M / Wk 3

7th UPDATE, Saturday 10:15 PM: Monkey business is Big business: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was down only about 9% from Friday night and estimates have it grabbing $24.9M to $25.8M on Saturday for a three-day weekend gross of anywhere between $72M and $74M. Like I said earlier this morning, even the final game of The World Cup can’t keep it in the $60M range anymore. We knew it would go over $70M this AM, it’s only a matter of how much. This is great news for Fox, director Matt Reeves and the rest of the filmmaking team. Well done, guys.

Meanwhile, the Michael Bay franchise Transformers: Age of Extinction reached the $200M threshold today for Paramount Pictures after its third week in release. It rode through the July 4th holiday well and obviously lost a lot of ground this weekend to Apes. It was down about 53% from last Friday which was the Fourth of July and is likely to drop about 55% from last weekend. So $6.7M today and $16.7M for the three day to raise its cume to $209.2M.

The rest of the line-up is pretty much as predicted with Warner Bros. Tammy No. 3 and tracking on the high end of the estimate below for the three-day ($12.6M to $13.2M) and surprisingly is holding its own with about a $5M take on Saturday. Perhaps it is because it’s the only relatively new comedy out there right now. But the Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel comedy Sex Tape comes out next weekend so Tammy will likely be kicked to the curb. Sex Tape, which starts out raunchy, builds with the laughs and is pretty hilarious at times. Hope it opens for Sony.

Speaking of Sony, 22 Jump Street may take in around $2.6M to $3M tonight to raise its cume to around $6.5M to $7.2M (which was better than expected this AM), and Fox/DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 looks like it is rounding out the Top Five as family audiences chose that over Relativity’s Earth to Echo today. Dragon, with an estimated $2.35M to $2.5M gross today, simply out-shined Echo as the picture of choice for the kiddies. Echo unearthed about $2.3M and is expected to pull in about $5.8M for the three-day compared to Dragon‘s $6.2M. Disney soars in with Planes: Fire and Rescue next weekend that is surely to conquer the family market next weekend. That’s how it looks so far tonight and will update again in the AM.

6th UPDATE, Saturday, 7:00 AM: All bets are that after a $27.8M Friday (which includes that $4.1M late night start on Thursday), Fox’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will pull in around $70M+, which means the second installment may end up doing around 30% better than the first when the dust clears on Monday morning. Don’t even think the World Cup finals can keep it in the $60M range now. (Fox just weighed in with its estimate of $70M at 7:50 AM). It’s swinging through a smattering of international territories right now (South Korea, Australia/New Zealand, India) but won’t go strong through Europe and Latin America until after the World Cup. The first installment — Rise of the Planet of the Apes — ended up grabbing $176.7M domestically and around $305M internationally with its biggest territory being the UK/Ireland ($33.7M).

Gotta give Andy Serkis props for this film as he sometimes gets overlooked or not mentioned/credited as an actor because he is hidden behind CGI. He plays, of course, Caesar. He also gave audiences the precious Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in addition to Kong in King Kong. Like any great actor, he did vast research on apes both in the wild and captivity to make his portrayal believable.

Paramount’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, easy No. 2 and will pass $200M today after a $4.9M Friday. Expected now at around $16.8M to 17.1M in its third weekend of play (and play it has). Next comes Warner Bros.’ Tammy in its second weekend, it will drop only 40% which is kind of surprising given its reviews. In the fourth spot will be Sony/MGM’s 22 Jump Street followed by Relativity’s Earth to Echo (holding well with only a 30% drop in its second weekend of play) and Fox/DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2. Screen Gems‘ Deliver Us From Evil, in its second weekend drops around 50%. All three sophomore players — Tammy, Earth to Echo and Evil — kept their screens this weekend. There seems to be a question whether Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys (WBros.) or Dinesh D’Souza‘s America (LGF) will take the No. 10 spot for the three-day as they both are hovering around the $2.4M mark. Lionsgate is thinking that it might come in under that, more like around $2.1M and noted that it had the best hold

Meanwhile, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood ended up taking in about $102K+ Friday and should do some nice business on Saturday on its five screens to pull off a 3-day weekend of $319K+. That’s a strong per screen average of almost 64K. Great start for this well-crafted film distributed by IFC films, a division of AMC Networks (which bankrolled the film over 12 years). Internationally, the film is still performing well in its German-speaking territory run (after a terrific reception at the Berlin Film Festival in February) and has grossed $2.32M in Germany, Austria and Switzerland through last weekend. That’s a snapshot. Top Ten chart follows:

1). Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (FOX), 3,967 theaters / $27.8M Friday / 3-day cume: $70M+ / Wk 1

2). Transformers: Age of Extinction (PAR), 3,913 theaters (-320) / $4.9M Fri. (-58%) / 3-day est. cume: $16M to $17M+ (-55%) / Total est. cume: $208.5M / Wk 3

3). Tammy (WB), 3,465 theaters (0) / $4M Fri. / 3-day cume: $12.8M to $13.1M (-39%) / Total cume: $57.4M / Wk 2

4). 22 Jump Street (SONY), 2,811 theaters (-513) / $2M Fri. / 3-day cume: $6.27M (-44%)/ Total cume: $171.4M / Wk 5

5/6). Earth to Echo (REL), 3,230 theaters (0) / $1.75M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.75M (-30%) / Total cume: $24.7M / Wk 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (FOX), 2,885 theaters (-412) / $1.76M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.68M / Total cume: $151.85M (-37%) / Wk 5

7). Deliver Us From Evil (SONY), 3,049 theaters (0) / $1.56M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.8M (-50%) / Total cume: $25.1M / Wk 2

8). Maleficent (DIS), 2,077 theaters (-312) / $1.2M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4M (-34%) / Total cume: $221.85M / Wk 7

9). Begin Again (TWC), 939 theaters (+764) / $825K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.98M (+138%) / Per screen: $3,180 / Total cume: $5.3M / Wk 3

10). Jersey Boys (WB) 1,968 theaters (-662) / $709K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.4M (-53%) / Total cume: $41.6M / Wk 4

America (LGF), 1,105 theaters (0) / $725K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.4M / Total cume: $8.2M / Wk 3

NOTEWORTHY: Boyhood (IFC), 5 theaters / $102,161 Fri. / 3-day cume: $319.5K / Per screen: $63,902 / Wk 1

5th UPDATE, Friday, 10:42 PM: The estimates came in tonight pretty much as we called it earlier, so just going to place the chart below for the Top Ten players.

4th UPDATE, Friday 8:57 PM: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ended up with an A- CinemaScore tonight and is on track at the moment to make around $26M to $27M for a three-day weekend cume of a possible $68M to $70M+ — depending on how much the World Cup Final audiences will dig into Sunday’s box office. Fox has it on the low end, we have it on the high end. The rest of the pack is playing almost exactly how they fared mid-week. Transformers: Age of Extinction is currently estimated to gross $4.4M tonight and is expected to cross $200M tomorrow; it will end the three-day with about $14M to $15.8M (a big Friday drop of 58%) and a weekend expected down 62%. After that, Tammy is expected to drop about 46% in its second weekend, taking around $11.5M to $12M, followed by How To Train Your Dragon 2 with $5.4M. Earth to Echo may fall about 33% in its sophomore frame competing for the No. 5 spot at the moment with 22 Jump Street; they both may take in around $5.5M (22 might do better for around $6M) for the weekend. In its second week, Deliver Us From Evil is a frightening 57% off and should take around $4M+.

NOTEWORTHY: After about a 100K take in five theaters tonight ($20K per), Boyhood is expected to have a nice growth spurt to pull in around 305K for the weekend or a strong per screen of $60K to $70K. Nice job, IFC Films. This one is going to garner great word-of-mouth as the critics love it and it’s a helluva good film.

Begin Again, in its expansion to 939 runs looks like a $2.9M 3-day for a possible cume of $5.3M to put it into the Top Ten this weekend, while Snowpiercer which is also expanding may take around 600K this weekend for a cume of $2.6M or so.

The Top Ten chart follows:

1). Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (FOX), 3,967 theaters / $26M to $27M Friday / 3-day cume: $68M to $70M+ / Wk 1

2). Transformers: Age of Extinction (PAR), 3,913 theaters (-320) / $4.46M Fri. (-58%) / 3-day est. cume: $14M to $15.8M (-63%) / Total est. cume: $207M / Wk 3

3). Tammy (WB), 3,465 theaters (0) / $3.8M Fri. / 3-day cume: $11.5M to $12M (-46%) / Total cume: $56.3M / Wk 2

4). How to Train Your Dragon 2 (FOX), 2,885 theaters (-412) / $1.6M to $1.7M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.4M / Total cume: $151.5M (-39%) / Wk 5

5/6). 22 Jump Street (SONY), 2,811 theaters (-513) / $1.95M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.5M to $6M (-44%)/ Total cume: $170.8M / Wk 5

Earth to Echo (REL), 3,230 theaters (0) / $1.6M to $1.7M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.5M to $5.6M (-33%) / Total cume: $24.8M / Wk 2

7). Deliver Us From Evil (SONY), 3,049 theaters (0) / $1.4M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.5M (-57%) / Total cume: $24.5M / Wk 2

8). Maleficent (DIS), 2,077 theaters (-312) / $1.1M Fri. / 3-day cume: $3.7M (-37%) / Total cume: $221.4M / Wk 7

9). Begin Again (TWC), 939 theaters (+764) / $803K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.91M (+132%) / Total cume: $5.3M / Wk 3

10). Jersey Boys (WB) 1,968 theaters (-662) / $737K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.5M (-51%) / Total cume: $41.7M / Wk 4

3rd UPDATE, Friday, 3:06 PM: Fox’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is continuing strong today and all bets are on a good Friday with a range of $24M-$27M right now (includes the $4.1M from late nights last night) for anywhere from $63M-$68M or higher for the three-day. At least that’s how it looks early in the first full day of its run. Paramount’s Transformers: Age Of Extinction, is, of course, in the No. 2 spot after its third week in release and is on the verge of crossing $200M. Following that, its going to be a logjam of Fox/DreamWorks Animation’s How To Train Your Dragon 2, Melissa McCarthy’s comedy Tammy (in its second weekend of release), Sony’s summer splash 22 Jump Street and Relativity’s family hopeful Earth To Echo (also in its second weekend) all elbowing each other for a piece of the weekend box office pie. More to come later on. Happy Friday.

2nd UPDATE, Friday, 11:30 AM: Boyhood grosses for its sneaks last night are in and it is doing very well. With four theaters reporting (of its five) so far, its screen average is around $8,600, so wonderful news for this little picture which has garnered great reviews and has a 100% fresh from Rotten Tomatoes. The Richard Linklater coming-of-age pic is a critical favorite across the country. IFC Films, a division of AMC Networks, bankrolled this film for 12 years and is distributing. This was a picture that began production before the social media boon, but its official trailers are getting heavy shares and its international trailer (as it opened overseas already) has been viewed 3.2M times, which is impressive for a little art house film. Kudos to producers Linklater and other nervous parents John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland and Jonathan Sehring on this one as well as the cast, made up of Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke and Lorelei Linklater.

Meanwhile, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is tracking to making $26M-$28M Friday (including its $4.1M so far from late nights last night starting at 10 PM — see below), so it could make $67M-$72M this weekend. It also has, by far, the most social engagement of any movie right now (as to be expected), but the big story is how Fox has fed over 100 international trailer versions across YouTube produced by language, subtitles, driving views in all regions, RelishMix reports. “Fans are engaging with a storm of behind-the-scenes selfies, groupies, talk show clips and countdown promotions that are being shared primarily on Facebook,” said RelishMix CEO Marc Karzen. The ApesMovies Facebook page has in fact hit 2M likes after having a nice push of 116K after the global premiere in San Francisco. And who is the social media king on this film? Andy Serkis who plays Caesar. Love the teaser one sheet that featured Caesar, too. Like I said, Fox is doing a wonderful job marketing this picture. Kudos must go, too, to the Fox production team — this had to be an incredible undertaking with not only the production but also overseeing the CGI effects (which are about the best I’ve ever seen) — so to director Matt Reeves and his entire crew, and Fox’s Jim Gianopulos, Emma Watts and Mark Roybal: nicely done. Chernin Entertainment, which produced the first installment, also helped produce this one.

NOTEWORTHY: Lionsgate’s Divergent just finishing up its domestic run ended up taking in $150.09M domestically and $118M internationally for a total worldwide of $269.2M to date. Godzilla looks right now to be the first film in history to open to over $90M and not hit $200M. As of its last reporting, it had $198M on 352 screens. Its worldwide gross is $498.5M.

UPDATE, FRIDAY, 7:20 AM: Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes took in $4.1M in late nights starting at 10 PM in about 2,750 theaters last night. In comparison, X-Men: Days Of Future Past opened at 10 PM in 2,904 locales and brought in $8.1M and ended up with a three-day gross of $90.8M. World War Z opened at 8 PM on 3,607 screens to take in $3.6M and went on to gross a three-day of $66.4M. So Apes is off to a fairly decent start for the weekend so far. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes swung in with a three-day take of $54.8M and Fox is saying that Dawn may open similarly but it looks to go higher as interest among the male demo ages 20 to 55 is as high as you can get. Thanks to the quality of the first film, the anticipation for this film is incredibly strong.

PREVIOUSLY, Thursday, 10:55 AM: This weekend, the industry has cleared the way for Fox’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, which is opening tonight at 10 pm in late night screenings on about 2,700 screens with all its 3-D glamour before it hits 3,996 this weekend. Of that number, 350 to 360 are large formats. This is a quality pic, not as good as the first one, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (also produced by Chernin Entertainment), but it delivers to its target demo. And it’s grabbing the interest of both old and new audiences. (Old as in my age who remember the first round, starring Charlton ‘out-of-my-cold-dead-hands’ Heston) … so, 20-somethings and older. The first installment opened to $54.8M at the beginning of August of 2011 and went onto gross $481.8M worldwide with $176.7M (or only roughly 37%) coming from domestic audiences. Fox is expecting a similar opening but it could go higher — much higher — and I believe it will given that the interest is much higher than the first, tracking as high as you can get with males 20 through 55.

So Apes takes the No. 1 spot, followed by Transformers: Age Of Extinction which will cross $200M in its third week of release (with $18.4M through last night). After that, it’ll be the same ol, same ol. How much will Tammy fall?

Right now, Apes represents more than 70% of Fandango‘s weekend ticket sales and the company said it’s outselling the first installment at the same point in the sales cycle. They have it pacing similar to ticket sales for World War Z, which opened to $66.4M last summer. This one was launched with a fantastic marketing campaign starting with that arresting one-sheet teaser of Caesar.

I rarely mention a limited release in my weekend box office preview, but IFC Films’ Boyhood from filmmaker Richard Linklater is opening this weekend in five theaters. This coming-of-age story is one of the best pictures we have seen in a long time here at Deadline — and it’s gotten 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Though it is long, it never feels lengthy. It is also playing quite well on social media for an art house film (see how well here). Oscar worthy.

The budget for this one (which shot for 12 years at a budget of about $200,000 each time) is around $2.4M. Word-of-mouth should be strong. So I will be watching this one’s per-screen averages this weekend as well. The film stars Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke and Linklater’s daughter Lorelei. It opens tomorrow.

Also, going wider in its expansion is TWC’s Begin Again, starring Mark Ruffalo and Kiera Knightly, which is getting fantastic word of mouth.

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Box Office: ‘Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Swings With $72.6M Weekend; ‘Boyhood’ Mans Up With Strong Per Screen

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