Apes beat Robots

Dawn of The Planet Of Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, a sequel about highly intelligent apes that battle with humans for dominance, has knocked the giant Transformers robots out of the top spot on U.S. and Canadian movie charts. The 3D Apes movie collected $73 million in ticket sales in its opening weekend, according to estimates from Rentrak. Transformers: Age of Extinction a sequel that ruled the box-office in the previous two weekends, dropped to second place with takings of $16.5 million. Tammy a Melissa McCarthy comedy about a fast-food worker who gets fired, claimed the third spot with $12.9 million.
Apes picks up the story of 2011 film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes 10 years later. Andy Serkis returns as Caesar, a brainy ape who leads his species and negotiates their interactions with the few humans who survived a deadly virus. The films are reboots of the franchise that began with the 1968 classic film about apes that launch a revolution.
Dawn… debuted stronger than 2011’s Rise, which grossed $54.8 million during its opening weekend. Dawn also exceeded pre-weekend forecasts for a debut of $63 million to $70 million at North American theaters. Apes added another $31 million in international markets for a global debut of $104 million, according to 20th Century Fox, the unit of 21st Century Fox which released it. Critics applauded the new installment, with 91 per cent of reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website recommending the film. Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox, said the debut was, “the perfect box office storm. It’s rare when critics and audiences like the same property, but it’s not just a summer blockbuster. There’s thought and intelligence to this movie,” which cost $170 million. The strong start for Apes helped lift summer ticket sales, which remain significantly behind last year. Theaters have rung up $2.484 billion since the beginning of May, down 20 per cent from the same period last year, according to Rentrak.
Transformers: Age of Extinction, starring Mark Wahlberg in the franchise’s fourth film, is one of the season’s biggest hits and last week became China’s highest-grossing movie of all time. Global sales through Sunday reached $752.5 million, according to distributor Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. Comedy 22 Jump Street finished in fourth place. The film starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as undercover cops collected $ 6.7 million at domestic theaters over the weekend. Animated hit sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2 earned $5.9 million to claim the fifth slot. Tammy was released by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc. Sony Corp’s movie studio distributed 22 Jump Street. How to Train Your Dragon 2 was released by 20th Century Fox, a unit of 21st Century Fox.

George Clooney rejects apology for UK story on upcoming marriage

George Clooney refused to accept an apology from Britain’s Daily Mail after it published what he said was a false story, “insinuating religious tensions” by saying his future mother-in-law opposed his marriage to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin. The Oscar-winning actor said the apology showed that the Mail knew the online story about Alamuddin’s mother preferring her daughter to marry within the family’s Druze religion was a lie when it published it on Monday. “What separates this from all of the ridiculous things the Mail makes up is that now, by their own admission, it can be proved to be a lie. In fact, a premeditated lie,” Clooney, 53, said in a statement published in the newspaper USA Today on Friday. “So I thank the Mail for its apology. Not that I would ever accept it …,” he added. The Mail Online story, which was not published in the print edition, said Alamuddin could be cast out of the Druze community because she would not be wed in a Druze wedding. It added that women have been murdered for not abiding by the Druze religious rules. Clooney took issue with the Mail Online report for, “insinuating religious tensions where there are none.” The Mail Online removed the story from its website earlier this week after Clooney said it was fabricated and apologised for any distress it had caused.
“The Mail knew the story in question was false and printed it anyway,” said Clooney, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor in 2006 for Syriana and shared the best picture award in 2013 for Argo. Clooney has been dating Alamuddin, 36, since October. News of their engagement was confirmed in April when Alamuddin’s legal practice in London issued a statement congratulating the couple.