The apes shall rule the Earth, and for now they rule the box office.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Trailer

For the second week in a row, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, tops the weekend box office in the United States. Variety reported on Sunday that the film raked in $36 million, a strong second weekend, and it seems quite likely that we will be in for a slew of Planet of the Apes movie, which is also what happened after the original movie with Charlton Heston was released.

The top new movie in the box office is The Purge: Anarchy, the sequel to last summer's The Purge. It scored $28.4 million in its first weekend, which, on a $9 million budget, means a big financial coup. One cannot say the same for Sex Tape, the new comedy from Jason Segal and Cameron Diaz. The film only made $15 million in its first weekend, which is a disappointment for a comedy with such big names, and a $40 million budget, attached to it. It finished in fourth this weekend, with Disney's Planes: Fire & Rescue making $18 million to finish in third.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Plot Changed Weeks Before Filming

On the whole, this weekend's box office total dropped 24 percent from last year. That's not good although no real blockbuster was released this weekend, as the highest priced new release was an R-rated comedy, and not a well-reviewed one either. Next week brings new releases in Hercules starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Scarlett Johansson's Lucy. One of these should unseat Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, putting humanity back in charge.

Tags: Movies Dawn of the Planet of the Apes sex tape The Purge: Anarchy