'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' reigns

The 20th Century Fox action thriller "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" took in $54 million to open as the No. 1 movie, The Associated Press reports.

That was about $15 million to $20 million more than analysts expected for the "Apes" prequel.

Featuring James Franco, Freida Pinto and Andy Serkis, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" tells the story of how lower primates began evolving to take over Earth from humans.