Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, The Help | featured news

“The Help” continues to clean up at the box office, taking over the No. 1 spot with $20.5 million in its second weekend. The drama about Southern black maids had debuted in second-place a week earlier. “The Help” raised its domestic total to $71.8 million and bumped “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which slipped to No. 2 with $16.3 million after two weekends at the top.

Every one of my sources had a different Top 5 list all day -- and there wasn't even a consensus until tonight that DreamWorks' holdover The Help (which needs none) is Friday's No. 1 movie. The problem was that the new releases -- Dimension/Weinstein Co's Spy Kids 4D, Nu Image/Millenium/Lionsgate's Conan The Barbarian, and DreamWorks/Disney's Fright Night are all bunched together behind another holdover, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Rebellious apes have held off Southern maids for a narrow win at the weekend box office. Studio estimates Sunday pegged “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” at $27.5 million, good enough for its second-straight No. 1 finish. The movie raised its 10-day total to $104.9 million. The “Planet of the Apes” prequel came in just ahead of “The Help,” a drama about Mississippi maids during the civil-rights movement that debuted at No. 2 with $25.5 million. “The Help” has taken in $35.4 million since opening Wednesday.

Domestic box office took a few unexpected turns this weekend (i.e. DreamWorks' standout crowdpleaser "The Help," with $25.5 million), while the B.O.'s reigning champ "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" not surprisingly held on to the top spot, grossing a solid $27.5 million in its second frame for a domestic cume approaching $105 million.