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‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Reigns at Box Office with $56.5 Million Opening 

This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Raka, played by Peter Macon, in a scene from "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." (20th Century Studios via AP)
This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Raka, played by Peter Macon, in a scene from "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." (20th Century Studios via AP)
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‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Reigns at Box Office with $56.5 Million Opening 

This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Raka, played by Peter Macon, in a scene from "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." (20th Century Studios via AP)
This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Raka, played by Peter Macon, in a scene from "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." (20th Century Studios via AP)

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” reigned over the weekend box office with a $56.5 million North American opening, according to studio estimates Sunday, giving a needed surge to an uncertain season in theaters.

The film from 20th Century Studios and Disney that built on the rebooted “Apes” trilogy of the 2010s had the third highest opening of the year, after the $81.5 million debut of “Dune: Part Two” in early March and the $58.3 million domestic opening of “Kung Fu Panda 4” a week later.

The strong performance for “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” — it played even better internationally with a global total of $129 million — comes a week after a tepid start for Ryan Gosling’s “The Fall Guy” signaled that the summer of 2024 is likely to see a major drop-off after the “Barbenheimer” magic of 2023.

“Planet of the Apes” easily made more than the rest of the top 10 combined.

“The Fall Guy” fell to No. 2 with a $13.7 million weekend and a two-week total of $49.7 million for Universal Pictures.

Zendaya’s “Challengers” was third with $4.7 million and has earned $38 million in three weeks for Amazon MGM studios.

The opening for “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” helmed by “Maze Runner” director Wes Ball, was the second best in the series, after the $72 million opening weekend of 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

It’s the 10th movie in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise that began in 1968 with the Charlton Heston original with a twist ending.

“This franchise has never been allowed to lose its momentum,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “There are very few franchises that have this kind of longevity.”

And it really is the property itself. The new film shares no central actors or characters with its predecessors.

“There’s just this love for the way it melds sci-fi with social commentary and straight-up popcorn entertainment,” Dergarabedian said.

“Kingdom” came with strong reviews and positive buzz (80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B” CinemaScore). It was especially praised for its visual effects and the way its CGI has caught up with its primates-on-horseback aesthetic even since the last film, 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes.”

Mark Kennedy of The Associated Press called it “thrilling” and “visually stunning.”

The shot in the arm is welcome for the movie business, but there is little certainty in the forthcoming summer.

The year so far, lacking an early Marvel movie like 2023’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” is running 21% of last year’s mid-May total.

While there are potential blockbusters that feel like safe bets including “Despicable Me 4” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” in July, others like “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” later this month and “Twisters” later in the summer feel like they could break either way.

Pixar once brought almost guaranteed hits, but June’s “Inside Out 2” may not thrive like the 2015 original.

“There used to be sure bets we cannot necessarily bank on anymore,” Dergarabedian said. “It is going to be a bit of a hit-or-miss slate.”

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‘Happy Face’ Looks at Ripple Effects of True Crime

Annaleigh Ashford, from left, Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore attend a special screening of the Paramount+ television series "Happy Face" at Metrograph on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Annaleigh Ashford, from left, Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore attend a special screening of the Paramount+ television series "Happy Face" at Metrograph on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
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‘Happy Face’ Looks at Ripple Effects of True Crime

Annaleigh Ashford, from left, Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore attend a special screening of the Paramount+ television series "Happy Face" at Metrograph on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Annaleigh Ashford, from left, Dennis Quaid and Melissa G. Moore attend a special screening of the Paramount+ television series "Happy Face" at Metrograph on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

The new Paramount+ series "Happy Face" has all the elements of a gripping true-crime yarn: A serial killer, his estranged daughter, a race to get an innocent man off death row. But perhaps the most intriguing part? How it examines the warping nature of true crime itself.

"I was less interested in the specific psychology of a serial killer or glorifying the murders or seeing violence against women on screen," says Jennifer Cacicio, executive producer and showrunner. "I just feel like we’ve seen that. I was very interested in making a true crime show told through a different lens."

"Happy Face," which begins airing Thursday, is inspired by the true story of Melissa Moore, whose father was a prolific serial killer infamous for drawing smiley faces on letters to the media and prosecutors. She was just 15 when he was captured.

Decades later, as an adult with her own children, she finds herself drawn back into his orbit as she sets out to save an innocent man for a crime her father committed. She also has to tell her daughter the truth about her grandfather.

Starring Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid, "Happy Face" is told from a female point of view and looks at how a shameful secret can echo through generations. It's also about the push and pull of infamy, with horrendous crimes somehow remaining an alluring draw.

"There’s a lot of crime dramas out there that I think are very male-centric. It’s either about the cops are the cool guys or the criminals are the cool guys, and it’s all about kicking in doors. I’ve written on those shows and they’re fun and they serve a purpose. And I think that I really wanted to try something different," Cacicio says.

"What is it like for the rest of the family when there’s this shameful secret and this series of crimes and these acts of violence and what are the ripple effects on everybody involved?"

Ashford, who earned a Tony Award nomination playing a serial killer on Broadway in "Sweeney Todd," plays Moore with tenderness and anger, saying she was interested in exploring generational trauma.

"It’s one of the worst nightmares," she says. "The worst nightmare of all is having a family member be a victim. And then the second worst nightmare is having a family member be the perpetrator. So what would you do if you’re a parent or your sibling or your spouse or your child committed an atrocity?"

Moore previously shared her story in the bestselling memoir, "Shattered Silence" and the 2018 "Happy Face" podcast, reaching out to her father's victims and advocating for other family members of killers. Cacicio was one of a number of writers interested in telling her story for TV.

Cacicio approached Moore with this pitch: "If you want someone who’s a straight-up journalist, who’s just going to tell exactly the story of the podcast, you should let someone else do it," she told her. "There’s also an opportunity for it to be a bigger story that’s asking some questions about true crime."

Cacicio and Moore, it turned out had plenty in common. They were the same age, and both the oldest of three kids. Both had close relationships with their fathers, who hid other lives — Moore's was a killer and Cacicio served time in prison for drug dealing.

"Obviously, the crimes are different, the circumstances are different. But I think, in my family, it was something we didn’t talk about and it was something I didn’t want my friends to know," says Cacicio.

"A lot of it was really personal to me. And I think that’s what made her trust me — that I really understood the feelings, even if I didn’t necessarily understand the specific circumstances."

Quaid plays Moore's father, but unlike other roles he's taken that involve a living person, he had no intention of meeting the prisoner. He didn't want to glorify the killer but also "Happy Face" isn't that kind of show.

"This is told from Melissa’s point of view, and I think it’s actually truer than his point of view, because I think she knows him much better than he knows himself," he says. "I think he shows emotions like a little boy who’s trying to talk himself out of a whipping."

Cacicio says it's time we took a look at the explosion in popularity of true crime, in which women are often the victims but women are also the chief consumers.

"Are we obsessed with these stories because we’re trying to protect ourselves in case the worst happens?" she asks. "I read somewhere that it’s an act of normalizing your own experiences, because usually it’s whatever you’re watching is worse than what’s happened to you. So it kind of like makes you feel better about your own traumas."