War For The Planet Of The Apes Tracking For $60 Million Opening

Caesar may be the hero the summer box office needs. Variety reports that the character's War for the Planet of the Apes is currently tracking for a $55 to $65 million debut, a solid opening in a summer box office that has been struggling thus far.

War for the Planet of the Apes will see Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his apes forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel (Woody Harrelson). After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his own darker instincts as he sets out on a mythic quest to avenge his kind. This quest puts him face-to-face against the Colonel, pitting the two against in each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both of their species and the planet as a whole.

The predicted opening puts it in a similar boat with past films in the rebooted franchise, with Rise of the Planet of the Apes bringing in $54.8 million in 2011 on its way to a $481.8 million gross (including $176.7 domestic) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opening to $72.6 million on its way to a $710.6 million gross (including $208.5 million domestic). Like both of those films, War is likely to see most of its profit coming from overseas, with the international box office providing a savior this summer to many an action flick, which have been struggling domestically.

While this is a positive forecast for War domestically, some factors could be standing in its way. This summer has not been welcoming to sequels and reboots, and with War being the third in the series, it could potentially face the same fate as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Transformers: The Last Knight. However, unlike those two films, War has incredibly positive reviews, currently sitting at a 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with many reviewers describing it as an incredibly impressive achievement and potentially the best film in the franchise thus far. 

These positive reviews should help the film follow in the footsteps of much more critically beloved reboots and sequels this summer, like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and (likely) Spider-Man: Homecoming, which will open the weekend before and is expected to pull in $100 million. A big part of its success will be determined by whether the movie is able to generate good word-of-mouth and buzz on social media, both of which are important to helping movies break through in the crowded blockbuster landscape.

Steve Zahn, Amiah Miller, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Judy Greer, and Gabriel Chavarria also star in War for the Planet of the Apes, which was directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, The Batman) based off a script from Reeves and Mark Bomback (The Wolverine). The film is due out on July 14; in the meantime, see some of the other movies that will blow you away this summer.