In battle for the weekend box office, ‘Apes’ rules

About half of moviegoers over the weekend chose to watch “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” The movie accounted for 49.4 percent of Korean ticket sales from Friday through Sunday in the second weekend since its release, according to the Korea Film Council.

The movie maintained its dominance in the United States as well. The science fiction sequel from 20th Century Fox outmuscled a trio of new films to top the North American box office for the second straight week with $36 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The acclaimed sequel to 2011’s reboot of the apes franchise has made $139 million in the United States in two weeks.

In Korea, “The Divine Move” came in second, garnering ticket sales of nearly 180,000. “Transformers: Age of Extinction” managed to stay high on the weekend box office, with ticket sales of 88,667.

In the United States, the closest competition over the weekend was the home-invasion horror thriller “The Purge: Anarchy,’’ written and directed by James DeMonaco. Universal’s low-budget sequel to last year’s surprise hit, “The Purge,’’ opened with $28.4 million, down from the $34.1 million scared up by the original on its opening weekend.

Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, noted the stronger competition this time around and the overall “depressed’’ business at movie theaters. Weekend revenue was down 24 percent from the same weekend last year, continuing a cold summer for Hollywood that’s more than 20 percent off the pace of the summer of 2013.

But “Anarchy,’’ which imagines an America where all crime is legal for 12 hours every year, was made for only $9 million, making it immediately profitable for Universal. Such success is the envy of most movies, particularly Sony’s “Sex Tape,” a starrier, more expensive release that opened with $15 million.

The Jason Segel, Cameron Diaz R-rated comedy failed to turn on moviegoers or critics. “Sex Tape,” in which a married couple makes a pornographic home video to stoke the flames of their lagging sex life, came in fourth place behind Disney’s “Planes: Fire & Rescue.’’ The animated sequel to 2013’s “Cars” offshoot, “Planes,” opened with $18 million.

“It was kind of a middling weekend unless you were the top film,’’ said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. Dergarabedian looks ahead optimistically to upcoming releases “Lucy,’’ starring Scarlett Johansson, and the Marvel space film “Guardians of the Galaxy,” of which he noted: “A lot of pressure is being put on that movie. It may be the last big summer blockbuster.’’

But as July turns to August, Hollywood’s summer is certain to be a down one.

In a limited release of 68 theaters, Zach Braff’s crowd-funded “Wish I Was Here’’ also arrived with a tiny weekend opening of $495,000 for Focus Features. The film, Braff’s directorial follow-up to 2004’s “Garden State,’’ was much criticized for depending on fan contributions for funding. “Wish I Was Here’’ will expand to more theaters next week, but it is sure to fall far short of the $26.8 million “Garden State” earned.

By lee sun-min, ap [summerlee@joongang.co.kr]