Latest Planet of the Apes swings to top of US box office

Directed by Matt Reeves, War for the Planet of the Apes was the ripe performer in its first weekend

Karin Konoval, left, and Amiah Miller in the box office leading War for the Planet of the Apes. Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

War for the Planet of the Apes won this weekend's battle of the box office in America over the weekend, riding on strong reviews and ever more natural-looking apes to take $56.3 million (Dh207 million).

The Fox/Chemin Entertainment production managed to outdraw Spider-Man: Homecoming, which fell by more than half from its opening three-day weekend to pull in $44.2 million, reports website Exhibitor Relations.

War, directed by Matt Reeves, tells the continuing story of how intelligent primate Caesar (Andy Serkis) and other apes battle the forces led by an evil human dictator (Woody Harrelson). The film, made for $150 million, has a 95 per cent approval rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website, which collates reviews.

Sony-Marvel collaboration Spider-Man, which draws a similarly strong 92 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, stars Tom Holland as a young Peter Parker, ably mentored by Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man as he takes on bad guy Vulture (Michael Keaton).

Far behind on $19.4 million was Universal's animated sequel Despicable Me 3, starring Steve Carell as the voice of bad guy-turned-protagonist Gru - and his twin brother Dru, and Kristen Wiig as Gru's wife Lucy.

The film has done much better further afield, according to Hollywood Reporter, which says its global gross of $519.4 million includes a whopping $113.6 million from viewers in China.

Placing fourth was Sony's heist thriller Baby Driver, which releases in the UAE on Thursday. It netted $8.7 million.

And in a surprising fifth place among the big-studio blockbusters was independent rom-com The Big Sick from Lionsgate, taking in $7.5 million in its first week in wide release.

Sick stars Kumail Nanjiani in the semi-autobiographical role of a Pakistani-American stand-up comic who resists his parents' insistent efforts to find a wife for him, and instead falls in love with comedy-club customer Emily, played by Zoe Kazan.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

Wonder Woman ($6.8 million)
Wish Upon ($5.5 million)
Cars 3 ($3.1 million)
Transformers: The Last Knight ($2.8 million)
The House ($1.7 million)

** Agence France Presse