Weekend Box Office: August 5-7

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $54 million

2.  The Smurfs - $21 million

3.  Cowboys & Aliens - $15.7 million

4.  The Change-Up - $13.5 million

5.  Captain America: The First Avenger - $13 million

6.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 - $12.16 million

7.  Crazy, Stupid, Love. - $12.1 million

8.  Friends With Benefits - $4.7 million

9.  Horribile Bosses - $4.6 million

10.  Transformers: Dark of the Moon - $3 million

All right...raise your monkey paw if you saw this one coming.

Dismissed not too long ago as the prequel no one asked for, Rise of the Planet of the Apes shocked audiences by being well, good.  Surprsingly good, actually.  The critics thought so, and audiences did too, turning up at theaters in droves this weekend to carry the film an estimated $54 million at the US box office.  That's well beyond the $35 million that Fox had their fingers crossed hoping they would get, and now ranks as the fifth highest-grossing August opening all time. 

As expected, since this is a prequel to a film franchise that ended more than 30 years ago (not counting Tim Burton's 2001 remake, and honestly, who does?), more than half the audience that saw the film this weekend was over 25 years old, and 20% was over 50.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes also received an excellent "A-" from Cinemascore, and with virtually no competition heading into theaters for awhile, it should play well for the rest of the summer.

Ryan Reynolds could have used some genetically-engineered apes in his own film this weekend:  The Change-Up, this weekend's other new release, flopped, landing in fourth place with just $13.5 million.  That's behind The Smurfs, which earned another $21 million in its second weekend, and it even lags behind last weekend's dud, Cowboys & Aliens, which dropped 57% to earn just $15.7 million.  It hasn't been a good summer for Reynolds, as June's Green Lantern also failed to set the box office on fire.

Captain America, in the meantime, inches closer to Thor's $145 million domestic total, earning $13 million this weekend to bring its total US earnings to $143 million.  At this point, it's likely to surpass Thor at some point this week.  Worldwide, however, Thor remains the clear winner, with $447 million worldwide compared to Cap's $246 million.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 passed another box office milestone this weekend, overtaking The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to become the third highest-grossing film worldwide.  Deathly Hallows' worldwide box office take now stands at $1.134 billion.  Domestically, the film has earned $342 million, and should mercifully surpass the god-awful Transformers: Dark of the Moon's $344 million by next weekend to become 2011's highest-grossing film.

Next weekend brings the releases of Final Destination 5, and 30 Seconds or Less.  Summer is truly winding down.  Bring on the fall movies!