The monkeys meant business as the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes debuted at the box office with $73 million on its opening weekend.

20^th Century Fox's critically acclaimed sequel went beyond the US$54.8 million opening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011, the first reboot of the chimp franchise.

Like Us on Facebook

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has added $31.1 million from 26 markets overseas for an international opening gross of $104.1 million.  

Based on studio estimates this weekend, the sequel has also been ranked as one of the best debuts this summer.

Directed by Matt Reeves and produced by Chernin Entertainment, the film has appealed to both moviegoers and critics, especially with the outstanding motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis who played the role of Caesar, the film's lead ape.

Serkis is the only actor who has returned from the original cast.

In the movie, the planet teems with intelligent apes and Caesar's tribe apprehensively comes across a group of survivors, including characters played by Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, and Jason Clarke. These humans seek to make peace with the genetically transformed apes.

The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes had been set ten years after that of the first film.

More attention has been drawn toward Caesar's intelligence and strong headship. He leads an uprising with his large group of apes, threatening to triumph over man as the superior species.

Although Dawn of the Planet of the Apes made an impressive debut this weekend along with strong overall performance of other films, such as Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction, the summer box office remains down at almost 20%.

It is expected to fail in keeping up with last year's remarkable record-breaking results, thanks to 2013's Despicable Me 2, Pacific Rim, and Grown Ups 2.

Aside from the chimp sequel and Transformers, other considerable earners at the box office this weekend include New Line-Warner Bros. comedy Tammy, Sony's sequel 22 Jumpstreet, Relativity's Earth to Echo, and Richard Linklater's critical hit Boyhood.

TagsDawn of the Planet of the Apes