Tim Burton gave us a new “Planet of the Apes” in 2001. With $180 million domestically, it was the highest grossing movie of the year for 20th Century Fox. Then came a reboot trilogy that began in 2011 with director Rupert Wyatt’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. With $176.8 million in North America, it was Fox’s biggest movie that year.
Sequel “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” arrived in 2014, with new director Matt Reeves. (Many have argued that the first film should’ve been called “Dawn” and the second chapter should’ve been called “Rise”. Sony’s “Bad Boys” saga is garnering similar attention right now for having the third movie in the franchise — 2020’s highest-grossing film — be called “Bad Boys For Life”, when that should’ve been saved for Movie No. 4, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die”, which opens June 7th.)
“Dawn” grossed an impressive $208.6 million, second that year for Fox only to “X-Men: Days of Future Past”. Reeves returned for 2017 finale “War for the Planet of the Apes”, which managed just $146.9 million and placed fourth for the year for Fox, behind “Logan”, “The Boss Baby” and “The Greatest Showman”.
The “Fox” went away in early 2020, making way for the newly named 20th Century Studios, under Disney’s control. “The Call of the Wild” earned $62.3 million just before the COVID pandemic began. Since then 20th Century has only released two legitimate hits — 2021’s “Free Guy” starring Ryan Reynolds, with $121.6 million, and James Cameron’s 2022 blockbuster “Avatar: The Way of Water”, which made $684.1 million.
Every other 20th Century theatrical release, from August 2020 with “The New Mutants” to April 2024 with “The First Omen”, has made less than $50 million. The closest to that mark: 2022’s Kenneth Branagh Hercule Poirot mystery thriller “Death on the Nile”, with $45.6 million.
I could see “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (out May 10th) making at least that figure in its opening weekend, and I’ll be very surprised if “Kingdom” isn’t 20th Century’s second highest grossing recent release, passing “Free Guy”. This will be a much-needed hit for this division of The Mouse House.