‘Apes’ Rise To No. 1 Weekend With $54 Million

First Published: August 7, 2011 1:10 PM EDT Credit: Getty Images

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Freida Pinto and James Franco arrive at the premiere of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. on July 28, 2011 Apes have climbed to the top rung of the weekend box office.

According to studio estimates Sunday, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” took in $54 million to open as the No. 1 movie.

That was more than analysts expected for the “Apes” prequel, though well below the $68.5 million opening of Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” remake 10 years ago.

The family tale “The Smurfs” remained at No. 2 for the second-straight weekend with $21 million, lifting its domestic total to $76.2 million.

The sci-fi Western “Cowboys&Aliens,” which debuted at No. 1 narrowly ahead of “The Smurfs” a week earlier, fell to third with $15.8 million, raising its total to $67.4 million.

The comedy “The Change-Up” opened a weak No. 4 with $13.5 million.

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