Box office estimates for the weekend of August 5-7 Rank. Movie Title – Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week # … [The Scorecard Review final score]

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – $54 million | 3,648 | $54 million | 1 … [6/10] 2. The Smurfs – $21 million | 3,395 | $76 million | 2 … [4/10] 3. Cowboys & Aliens – $16 million | 3,754 | $67 million | 2 … [5/10] 4. The Change-Up – $14 million | 2,913 | $14 million | 1 … [6/10] 5. Captain America: The First Avenger – $13 million | 3,620 | $143 million | 3 … [6/10]

Source: www.boxofficemojo.com

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As projected, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the undisputed champion this weekend at the box office. Most industry gurus had predicted a take somewhere in the low 40's (millions), and our two resident predictors projected low as well, with the film pulling in a respectable $54 million. Considering the territory (cultish science fiction) this was an impressive feat.

The only other new (wide) offering this weekend, The Change-Up fell flat on its face, bringing in a mere $14 million, enough to garner a fourth place finish. Considering the names attached to the project, I'd call this a full-on failure, a complete embarrassment. Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde all just burnt a little capital, if you ask me. Over-exposure is a foul beast, so is a poor script. The Change-Up's poor reviews certainly added to its sluggish explosion out of the gate. Implosion is probably the better word.

Coming in at 2nd place this weekend, The Smurfs continued on with its terrible rampage, and by terrible I mean (sadly) impressive. If you'd told me that The Smurfs would have earned $76 million in its first two weeks, my heart would have stopped beating, then and there. This is just depressing. We must all hope for films like this to do poorly, less we be assaulted with sequels. Do we really want a Smurfs 2? Come on people, just rent the original cartoon on DVD. Stop feeding bad cinema.

Cowboys & Aliens earned another $16 million for a bronze medal, where Captain America: The First Avenger won another $13 million, placing fifth.

Calhoun Kersten vs. Aaron Ruffcorn

Each weekend Kersten and Ruffcorn go head to head in the Box Office Challenge, trying to pick the correct Number One film in America and how much money it will make. This weekend ... Ruffcorn Wins! Season record: Kersten 7 - Ruffcorn 8 Thoughts by TSR: Both Kersten and Ruffcorn underestimated the allure of James Franco running around with monkeys. But as Ruffcorn had the closer of the two predictions, Ruffcorn takes the lead (for the first time, I believe).

A recap:

Calhoun Kersten’s prediction for the weekend of August 5-7 …

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($35 Million)

Aaron Ruffcorn’s prediction for the weekend of August 5-7 …

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($39 Million)