'Final Destination,' 'The Help' fight 'Apes' at B.O.

Viola Davis in "The AssistanceInch "half an hour or Less" Final Destination 5 Warner Bros.' fifth installment within the "Final Destination" franchise leads this weekend's quartet of counterprogrammers searching to maintain the domestic B.O. clicking in August. But it will be a good race for No. 1 since "Rise from the Planet from the Apes" is anticipated to keep well following its surprising $54.8 million opening. The very best two openers should see mid-$20 million debuts, based on B.O. experts -- but you will find lots of ways they might overperform. of DreamWorks' "The Assistance,Inch distribbed by Disney, likely is going to be close behind having a bow around $20 million for 5 days. Pic collected $5.5 million Wednesday from 2,511 Stateside locations -- a good midweek start that's likely to build with the weekend depending on positive buzz along with a rare A+ CinemaScore rating. The rest of the two wide releases are Sony's "half an hour or Less" and twentieth century Fox's "Glee: The three dimensional Concert Movie." Anticipation for "Less" vary from $15 million-$17 million, while "Glee" is much more of the wild card (Fox is expecting a bow within the high-single numbers, however the studio stated "Glee" fans could raise the number greater). Fox's "Apes," which bowed last weekend overseas with $23.8 million, adds a couple of more major marketplaces, including France, Germany and also the U.K. Foreign cume is $30.8 million through Tuesday. Locally, "Apes" should visit a second-week drop much like those of Fox's earlier summer time tentpole, "X-Males: Top Class,Inch which fell 56% to $24.a million in the soph sesh. Though "Top ClassInch gained a little more than "Apes" opening weekend, the second Fox pic is doing better throughout midweeks and will not need to contend with a significant summer time tentpole in the second frame ("Super 8" opened up about the heels of "Top ClassInch). "Apes" could thus visit a better-than-expected hold, possibly passing on a small edge over "Final Destination." Most B.O. commentators predict the Warner-New Line three dimensional horror installment, which cost you a reported $45 million, could perform much better than the reduced-$20 millions that pre-weekend monitoring indicates, especially because of the franchise's core femme fanbase and three dimensional, striking the mid-$20 millions. The 4th "Final Destination" bowed at $27.4 million last year , but which was throughout the weekend of August. 28 -- two days after Warner's latest "Destination . " three dimensional could boost totals for "Destination 5," much like the way the format assisted the 4th pic, with 70% in three dimensional. That film, however, released throughout a less crowded three dimensional frame -- as well as throughout a period when recognition for three dimensional was still being high. Still, horror films usually prosper using the format nonetheless, along with a healthy quantity of three dimensional screens -- 2,800, including 217 in Imax -- should boost "Destination's" three dimensional prospects. Fox guaranteed all debut locations (2,040) for "Glee" in three dimensional. The studio is betting the TV show's recognition will translate towards the bigscreen, climax unclear precisely how broad the fanbase is really (teens really are a given, with potential turnout from college-aged auds). Concerning "The Assistance,Inch Disney is depending on mostly female moviegoers to construct buzz. Probably the most positive B.O. experts predict the $5.5 million midweek bow will result in a five-day take up to $25 million-$$ 30 million. Meanwhile, "half an hour or Less" is Sony's third R-ranked summer time comedy, after "Bad Teacher" and "Buddies With Benefits." Universal's raunchy laffer "The Modification-Up" bowed last weekend for an underwhelming $13.5 million and cumed $18.4 million through Wednesday. The new sony is expecting a much better start for "half an hour,Inch but that is dependent how voluntarily auds will welcome the summer's seventh R-ranked comedy. "half an hour,Inch allocated in a reported $28 million, will earn the majority of its opening from males 17-30. There's little happening in the niche B.O., with only two significant indie game titles growing: "Sarah's Key" and "Another Earth." "Sarah's Key," in the Weinstein Co., adds 34 domestic locations for any total of 101. Last weekend, the film broadened steadily, posting a per-screen average of $11,112 from 33 locations cume is $1.5 million in three days. Fox Searchlight's "Another Earth," which increases to 82 engagements, has totaled $516,332 in only as numerous days. Starting in limited release, Asif Kapadia's docu "Senna," about Brazilian Formula Once racing driver Ayrton Senna, bows at two total locations in New You are able to and L.A. Producers Distribution Agency is distribbing. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com