BBC News Online: Entertainment: Film

Apes swing to the top

Planet of the Apes is a remake of the 1968 classic

The remake of the 1968 classic features Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth and Helena Bonham Carter, was directed by Tim Burton, famed for Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns.

The previous record for a non-holiday opener was $68.1m (£47.8m)set last May by The Mummy Returns.

Last week's box-office winner, dinosaur epic Jurassic Park III, was pushed down to second place with $22.5m (£15.8m), followed by romantic comedy America's Sweethearts, starring Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones $15.7m (£11m).

Bruce Snyder, Twentieth Century Fox's distribution president, said Planet's $25m (£17.5m) takings on Friday were the third- best for a single day.

It was beaten only by the $28m (£19.6m) opening by Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 1999, and Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World's $26m (£18.2m) in 1997.

Burton's film also set a new personal record for the director, beating the $46m (£32.3m) for the opening of Batman Returns in 1992.

And in Japan, it raked in $5.5m (£3.5m), plus $600,000 (£391,718) in Hong Kong and $580,000 (£378,652) in Thailand.

Reese Witherspoon comedy Legally Blonde ranked $2m below America's Sweethearts with $9m (£6.3m), while the Robert De Niro heist thriller Score, came fifth with $7.1m (£4.9m)