Director Matt Reeves' War for the Planet of the Apes is stomping past holdover Spider-Man: Homecoming at the North American box office, topping Friday's chart with $22.1 million from 4,022 theaters for a projected $57.5 million debut.
Heading into the weekend, it was unclear whether the final installment in 20th Century Fox's refurbished trilogy would be able to beat Sony's Spider-Man, which swung to a stellar $117 million last weekend.
Apes is performing ahead of expectations but will still open behind the 2014 sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($72.6 million). It will, however, best the 2011 film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($54.8 million). Friday's haul included $5 million in Thursday-night previews.
Spider-Man: Homecoming grossed around $13.7 million Friday from 4,348 cinemas for a sophomore outing of $47 million-$48 million. That would mean a decline of 60 percent or 59 percent, a bigger drop than the summer's two other superhero sensations, Wonder Woman, which fell a scant 43 percent, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (56 percent), but certainly in keeping with many other comic book adaptations. Sony's Spider-Man reboot will finish the weekend with a tidy domestic total of roughly $210 million.