Rise of the Planet of the Apes In this The Planet of the Apes prequel, James Franco plays a scientist who discovers a drug he's been working on to cure Alzheimer's has a side effect: it makes the apes he's testing it on more intelligent. When he takes home a chimp, Caesar, who exhibits advanced skills, they grow close, but a series of unfortunate events puts Caesar in lock-up. Caesar devises an Read more

With Summer blockbuster season officially coming to an end, The Help had another strong showing at the box office, taking the top spot yet again. It earned $14.2 million, making it the first film since Inception to stay at the top of the box office for three weekends straight. New movie The Debt followed with $9.7 million, while its fellow newbies Apollo 18 and Shark Night 3D were right behind it Read more

Despite three new releases and a hurricane that shut down much of the East Coast, The Help took the number one spot at the box office for the second weekend in a row with $14.3 million. In what was the second slowest weekend at the box office this year (behind only Super Bowl weekend), new film Colombiana saw a modest debut, taking second place with $10.3 million. Other newcomer Don't Be Afraid Read more

The Help cleaned up against the competition this week, rising to the number one box-office spot during its second week in release with $20.4 million. The Help is only the second film this year — the first being True Grit in January — to move up to a number one spot after debuting lower. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which held the number one spot for the previous two weeks, slipped to Read more

Moviegoers continued to go ape over Rise of the Planet of the Apes last weekend. The seventh film in the franchise took the number one spot at the box office for the second weekend in a row, bringing in $27.5 million. Rise of the Planet of the Apes triumphed over four new releases, including The Help, which helped itself to a second place spot with $25.5 million. Final Destination 5 came in third Read more

Rise of the Planet of the Apes breathed new life into the franchise as the film drew in $54 million in its opening weekend and taking first place at the box office. The Smurfs took a distant second with $21 million, followed by Cowboys & Aliens, which earned $15.7 million in its sophomore weekend. The Change-Up saw a disappointing debut of $13.5 million, which isn't a particularly strong Read more

In a cinematic landscape crowded with sequels, prequels, and reboots, Rise of the Planet of the Apes may easily be passed off as just another part of the pack, when in fact it's a fresh take on a beloved franchise with some fancy new tricks up its sleeve. The Planet of the Apes series has had hits and misses through the years, and this iteration manages to be a fulfilling part of the legacy and Read more