How Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes preview box office numbers hint at a huge blockbuster 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes released recently. (mage via apesmovies, Instagram)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Image via Instagram/@apesmovies)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the latest installment in the rebooted franchise from 20th Century Fox, is the fourth film in the series and the 10th overall in the Planet of the Apes franchise. Anticipation for the film has been building since production began in 2019, and after several delays, it was finally released on May 10.

The movie has finally hit the screens to great acclaim, with early previews reportedly generating an impressive $6.6 million in revenue, according to Variety.

With promising initial returns, the film is set to surpass some of its predecessors and become the highest-grossing entry in the franchise. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is projected to make around $50 million on its opening weekend, which in itself will put it in a good position to emerge as a super hit.


Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes preview numbers suggest 20th Century Fox has a hit on their hands

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the series' first installment since War for the Planet of the Apes, which came out way back in 2017. The movie in itself also made $5 million in previews and garnered a commanding $56.2 million over its opening weekend. However, it is not to date the highest-grossing opening recorded by a Planet of the Apes movie.

That title belongs to 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which introduced audiences to Caesar, the legendary ape leader whose teachings inspire generations of apes in the franchise universe. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes made $72 million over its opening weekend after making $4 million via previews.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes also earned $5 million in previews, which is exactly the amount War of the Planet of the Apes made. However, the newest movie, in addition to having favorable projections, also has utterly impressive reviews by its side already.

With an 81% Rotten Tomatoes rating based on 176 reviews and a 7.4 on IMDB, the movie has garnered a positive response from viewers, signaling a promising direction for the franchise. This suggests that it has the potential to surpass the box-office success of the previous iterations of the franchise.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes also has a more expansive international schedule ahead and will be released in an expanded market over the next few weeks. That, in addition to the early projections, suggests that the movie has every chance of finding success in the coming time, although much will depend on how the opening weekend goes.

Regardless, starring Owen Teague as Noa, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes traces his journey to stop Proximus Caesar, a relative of the original Caesar. The ape army general will be seen embarking on a quest to acquire human technologies to further help them dominate over human beings. The audience will move past the original Caesar, as loved as he was, in lieu of how the generations to follow inculcate and live up to his teachings.

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