The annual Purge is being felt at the box office.
Universal's horror sequel “The Purge: Anarchy” was No. 1 with moviegoers on Friday night, scaring up a solid $13 million, but holdover “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” may end up winning the weekend.
“Anarchy” is expected to earn around $30 million for the weekend. So far, it's trailing its 2013 predecessor, with opened to $16.8 on its way to a $34.1 million opening weekend. However, “Anarchy” only cost around $9 million to produce and will have no problem turning a profit — and no doubt spawning another sequel.
Meanwhile, “Dawn” — the sequel to 2011's hit “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” — placed second on Friday, earning a strong $10.4 million. With Friday night out of the way, it will likely end up pulling ahead of “Purge” to win the weekend. So far, “Dawn” has earned an impressive $113.3 million domestically.
There's some bad news for the weekend's other wide openers.
The Disney animated sequel “Planes: Fire and Rescue” didn't exactly soar at the box office, where it earned $6.2 million. It will likely fly away with $17 million or so for the weekend, significantly lower than the first film's $22 million debut.
Likewise, the Sony comedy “Sex Tape,” starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, earned a disappointing $5.7 million for a fourth place finish. The poorly-reviewed film will be lucky to reach $15 million for the weekend.
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” rounded out the top five, pulling in another $2.7 million, bringing its domestic total to $219.8 million. The Michael Bay-directed sequel — starring Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, and Jack Reynor — continues to be a monster at the international box office. So far, its global take stands at a huge $797.2 million.
On the specialty side of the multiplex, Zach Braff's Kickstarter-funded “Wish I Was Here” is projected to pick up an OK $526,000 from 68 theaters. Richard Linklater's “Boyhood” expanded to 34 theaters Friday, and is likely to gross a big $1.1 million for the weekend.