“The Help” is a hit. The Emma Stone and Viola Davis drama opened to strong midweek numbers grossing $5.5 million on Wednesday to easily take the top spot at the box office.
Claiming an extremely rare A+ rating on Cinemascore, “The Help” is looking at anywhere from $25-30 million over the upcoming weekend and could hit $40 million overall by Sunday. Budgeted at approximately $25 million, this is DreamWorks first hit (in their second outing) since moving from Paramount Pictures to Walt Disney Studios last year. Their first release, “I Am Number Four,” ended up with a relatively disappointing $55 million domestic and $144 million globally. The company’s third feature this year, a remake of “Fright Night,” hits theaters a week from Friday.
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was second with $4.9 million. The 20th Century Fox prequel had culled a stellar $73 million in just six days. It should easily surpass the $100 million mark sometime over the upcoming weekend.
The Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari comedy “30 Minutes or Less” and “Final Destination 5” will join the box office fray as the only other new releases on Friday.
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