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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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Alfonso Cuarón, Cate Blanchett Bring Series ‘Disclaimer’ to Venice Film Festival 

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Alfonso Cuarón, Cate Blanchett Bring Series ‘Disclaimer’ to Venice Film Festival 

Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Cast member Cate Blanchett poses on the red carpet during arrivals for the screening of the mini-series "Disclaimer", out of competition, at the 81st Venice Film Festival, in Venice, Italy August 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Alfonso Cuarón is the first to admit that he does not know how to make a television series. He might even be too old to learn how, he said.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker has technically now made a series, the seven-part AppleTV+ show “Disclaimer,” four episodes of which premiered Thursday at the Venice Film Festival. But he did it his way: Like a film.

Based on Renée Knight’s 2015 book of the same name, “Disclaimer” is a psychological thriller about a documentarian and journalist, Catherine Ravenscroft (Cate Blanchett), who discovers she’s a character in a novel that reveals her darkest secret.

Cuarón, Blanchett and Kevin Kline all made the journey to the Italian film festival to debut and speak about the show before it begins streaming on Oct. 11.

“I read the book and immediately in my mind I saw a film, but I didn’t know how to make that film,” Cuarón, the director of films including “Gravity” and “Roma,” said in a news conference Thursday. “It was way too long. I could not shape it as such.”

It was only later, he said, that he thought it might work in longer form, inspired by predecessors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, David Lynch and Krzysztof Kieślowski.

“I was intrigued and that was the point of departure,” Cuarón said.

He started writing with one name in mind for Catherine: Blanchett, terrified that she might say no. Not only did she not say no, she also was the one who suggested Kline for a British character. Sacha Baron Cohen plays her husband in the show and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays her son.

All soon realized that approaching it as a film, and shooting it as a film, would take much longer than a normal series. He even enlisted two cinematographers, Emmanuel Lubezki and Bruno Delbonnel, to add a distinct visual language to the different perspectives in the story. All told, it took about a year.

“It was a really long process,” Cuarón said. “And I really feel for the actors because they were stuck with the characters for way too long.”

Blanchett laughed that they were “still recovering.”

The final three episodes will screen Friday at the festival. Though the festival is most known for its feature film premieres, it does play host to select series as well. This year those also include Joe Wright’s Mussolini biopic “M: Son of the Century,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The New Years” and Thomas Vinterberg’s “Families Like Ours.”