After a pretty lacklustre July 4th weekend, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes reinvigorated the box office once again with a stellar $73 million debut. That’s an impressive 33% increase from the last film and the sixth highest opening weekend of the year so far. Clearly the Planet of the Apes series is not quite on the same level as the big comic book movie franchises, but it’s not that far off either. Elsewhere Transformers: Age of Extinction dropped to #2 with another $16.5 million, followed by Tammy with $12.9 million. 22 Jump Street and How to Train Your Dragon 2 rounded out the top 5. Although Richard Linklater’s Boyhood did not come anywhere near the top 10 in its first weekend, it had a strong per-theatre average of $71,800, which is good news as it continues to expand in the coming weeks.

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes — $73M
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction — $16.5M
3. Tammy — $12.9M
4. 22 Jump Street — $6.7M
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 — $5.9M
6. Earth to Echo — $5.5M
7. Deliver Us from Evil — $4.7M
8. Maleficent — $4.2M
9. Begin Again — $2.9M
10. Jersey Boys — $2.5M