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LOS ANGELES: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” dangled from the top spot in the North American box office for a second consecutive weekend, raking in dollar 27.8 million, industry estimates showed Monday.
Although the earnings marked a 50 per cent drop from last weekend, the prequel to the 1968 classic “Planet of the Apes” still brought a total of dollar 105.2 million after 10 days, according to earnings tracker Exhibitor Relations.
In a surprise second was the screen adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's 2009 debut novel “The Help,” a 1960s period film about African-American maids working for white households in Jackson, Mississippi.
The movie, which opened Wednesday, earned dollar 26 million over the weekend for a total take of dollar 35.9 million so far.
The sardonic “Final Destination 5,” a dark comedy, in which good-looking young people are methodically killed off in graphic detail, debuted in third place.
The fifth installment of the once-innovative franchise in which teens cheat death only to have the Grim Reaper come clawing back to claim them, sold a less-than-expected dollar 18 million in tickets.
“The Smurfs” fell from second to fourth in their third week, with a take of dollar 13.3 million.
The live-action and animated film, starring Neil Patrick Harris and featuring the voice of pop star Katy Perry as Smurfette, so far has generated an estimated dollar 101.8 million in North American sales.
Fifth place went to “30 Minutes or Less,” starring Jesse Eisenberg of “The Social Network” as a pizza delivery guy kidnapped by fledgling criminals who strap a bomb to his chest and order him to rob a bank. It earned dollar 13.3 million.
Action thriller “Cowboys & Aliens” starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, marked its third week in theaters with dollar 7.8 million in ticket sales, slipping from third to sixth place.
The eighth and final installment of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2,” came in seventh place.
The blockbuster about the boy wizard took in dollar 7.25 million in its fifth week, after breaking multiple box office records and soaring past dollar 1 billion in global sales.
“Captain America: The First Avenger” with Chris Evans starring as a superhero dedicated to defending American ideals, with the eighth biggest earning movie, with dollar 7.2 million in sales.
Dropping two spots to ninth was the romantic comedy “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” with a take of dollar 7 million.
Tenth place was claimed by the comedy date flick “The Change-Up,” selling dollar 6.3 million in movie seats.
