20th Century Fox's "Planet of the Apes" had its boxoffice debut in Japan during the weekend, where the Tim Burton-helmed sci-fi actioner pulled in an estimated $5.5 million from 326 screens in its first two days. "This is an outstanding beginning for "Planet of the Apes" in its international rollout," said Mitch Yankowitz, executive vp international marketing for 20th Century Fox. "We're very happy." In all, "Apes" swung into four international territories during the weekend. The Mark Wahlberg starrer debuted with an estimated $600,000 from 123 screens in Thailand, marking the fourth biggest ever in that country for Fox. "Apes" opened in Puerto Rico with an estimated $610,000 from a low 50 screens -- the third biggest of all time for Fox in that country, just behind "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" and "Independence Day." The remake took in an estimated $600,000 from 25 theaters in Hong Kong. "Apes" rolls out in Latin America this coming weekend. (Brian Fuson) 

SYDNEY (Variety) - Swinging into Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand over the weekend, ``Planet of the Apes'' didn't quite ape its domestic trajectory but delivered pretty muscular numbers nonetheless. 

Meanwhile, superb weather sapped the box office in many European markets, impacting the bow of ``Jurassic Park III'' in Spain and its sophomore session in the U.K. 

The ``Apes'' remake racked up an estimated $5.5 million in two days in Japan, including sneaks, Fox reported Sunday. Fox opted for a bow this past weekend to take advantage of the school vacation and the window before the Aug. 4 launch of the flying dinosaurs. 

Tim Burton's sci-fier checked in at No. 2 behind local phenomenon ``Spirited Away,'' which conjured up about $8 million in its second lap, according to industry estimates. That's not far short of the opening weekend for the animated fantasy, which went on to earn a socko $23.8 million in its first week. 

``Apes'' gobbled up an estimated $600,000 in Hong Kong and $580,000 in Thailand, in the latter posting Fox's fourth-highest debut of all time. 

Considering the competition in Japan, ``Pearl Harbor'' held its ground remarkably well, raking in roughly $2.9 million in its third weekend, propelling the local total to $24 million. The WWII epic captured about $7 million internationally over the weekend, hoisting its foreign haul to $181 million. 

The latest ``Jurassic Park'' romp devoured $1.1 million Friday-Saturday in Spain, about 20% below the entry of ``The Mummy Returns.'' 

The monster pic plunged by 58% in the U.K., coining $1.7 million Friday-Saturday, hit more by the hot weather than the two rookies: ``Dr. Dolittle 2'' and ``Swordfish.'' The U.K. total for ``Jurassic Park III'' stands at $11.7 million. The picture brought in a terrific $630,000 in its second weekend in Argentina, ahead of ``Shrek,'' which bowed with $387,000. 

Down Under, ``Bridget Jones's Diary'' seized pole position, romancing a splendid $1.9 million in four days plus $1 million from the prior weekend sneaks. 

After mediocre performances in several Asian territories, ''Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'' materialized in Australia at No. 2 with a decent $1.6 million, benefiting from a hefty ad campaign. ``Enemy at the Gates'' went to the barricades in Oz with a respectable $364,000. 

Hair looms: Helena Bonham Carter plays the compassionate, well-born ape Ari.
Helena Bonham Carter and Mark Wahlberg get the rare chance to play against type in Tim Burton's new take on the cult classic film Planet Of The Apes, Phillip McCarthy writes.

Mark Wahlberg, ex-rapper and underwear model, didn't want to wear a loincloth. Helena Bonham Carter, the quintessential Merchant Ivory heroine, didn't want to worry about bad hair days. 

In the new Planet Of The Apes epic from Tim Burton - a director who likes to keep his actors happy - both stars got their wish.

Wahlberg probably got the better deal. As the human hero he avoided a monkey suit altogether - he gets around in a tasteful white neck-to-toe space suit - while Bonham Carter spent six hours a day being turned into a chimp-fatale. 

She certainly didn't have to worry about a demure Victorian 'do as she did in A Room With A View or Howards End; her brunette hair is buried under a furry suit and she has enough prosthetic make-up to keep the assembly lines at Revlon cranking.

"There's a bit of a challenge in being both the female lead and a chimpanzee," Bonham Carter said. "Has it ever been done before? Because I was supposed to be glamorous enough to make an infatuation with a human credible, it meant they spent much more time doing me up than anyone else. But, really, how attractive can a woman with a lot of facial hair be?"

Although she then added with evident puzzlement: "Strangely enough, I got the feeling a lot of the male crew were attracted to me - which I think says more about them than anything else." 

The nearest thing to facial hair, as Bonham Carter chats about the movie, are long strands of curly hair framing her lightly made-up face. She's in a form-fitting green dress that, later on in our meeting, only slightly obscures the demonstration of ape movements she conducts. 

If Planet Of The Apes was something of a gruelling lark for Bonham Carter - an actor whose name is usually preceded by dainty phrases like "pre-Raphaelite beauty" - it's even more of a transition for Wahlberg. 

He gets to play the hero, in a role originally filled by Charlton Heston in 1968. He's the leading man after a career of sidekick roles usually played to George Clooney (The Perfect Storm and Three Kings) or Burt Reynolds (Boogie Nights). 

At our meeting Wahlberg is stylishly dressed in black trousers and a black, long-sleeved, knit polo-style shirt; if anything he looks more muscular than in his Marky Mark incarnation, with biceps straining at the fabric of the shirt. 

"When Tim asked me about the film I said instantly, 'I'm in', without knowing what role he had in mind," Wahlberg said.

"When he called back and said he wanted me to play the astronaut I was relieved, because I didn't have to worry about hours in the make-up chair. But then I started to panic, because Charlton Heston wore a loincloth and I didn't want to do that."

These days Wahlberg, it seems, wants to be judged more on his acting chops than his buff bod; he figures that stripping down to his underwear, or less, Boogie Nights style, evokes memories of his pre-thespian past that he would prefer audiences to forget. 

"But, thank God, Tim had no interest in putting me in a loin cloth," he added. "I didn't really even have to ask him because in the meeting I said I'd do anything you want and dropped my guard, which is normally up on these things."

But then this is a Tim Burton movie - admittedly a big, $200 million fresh look at classic 1960s science fiction - and one phrase the director uses a lot is "off kilter". You never expect anything from Burton to be predictable which, in formula-driven Hollywood, is a gift. 

Take Heston who, perversely, Burton has brought back as one of the apes. 

"I like reversals that say 'what if?' and the idea of things being a little off kilter," Burton said. "With this you've got time travel and parallel universes, so anything is possible. Why not bring that 'what if' sentiment to casting?" 

The set-up for Burton's story, much like the original, has an astronaut landing on a strange planet, where evolution has taken a different turn: instead of humans being the dominant primates it's the apes who have the upper hand. 

Admittedly, they haven't achieved the same level of technological superiority. Even though we're several centuries in the future, the apes haven't discovered gunpowder and their civilisation has an ancient, epic quality. 

Still, they know enough about their own strength to keep the humans in check as pets when they're young and cute and slaves when they're older and sullen.

"I wanted Mark's character to be this regular-guy kind of anchor because he becomes the odd man out," Burton said. "I needed a 'what the hell is this place?' kind of person.

He's very solid, so that was there as a springboard. 

"Before I met him people were telling me he had all this baggage involving rap, Calvin Klein underwear...But I don't pay too much attention to reputations." 

Bonham Carter, Burton said, was the first actor he thought of to play the role of an upper-class chimp who has liberal views and feels that the treatment of humans in her society is, well, inhuman. She gets around in natural fibres and is a sort of simian equivalent of an animal rights campaigner: she disrupts branding sessions in the sales pens of slave traders.

There's a scene in her boudoir in which she writes intently in her journal in much the way she would have in one of her Victorian costume dramas - except that the quill is held between her toes and she's using her hands to comb her hair. 

Bonham Carter had been trying to ditch the corsets-and-bodice roles with edgier fare in films such as Fight Club and Mighty Aphrodite. And, at the very least, Planet Of The Apes takes the idea of a costume drama in a whole new direction. 

She recalled that Burton phoned and said, "I have this hunch that you might like to try something very different". And she was up for it. 

However, for Bonham Carter, there was something familiarly Shakespearian about her romantic predicament: she's being wooed by the most powerful and human-loathing of the apes, a mean little chimp played by Tim Roth. But her character, Ari, is smitten with the human intruder, Wahlberg, for whose affections she has a pretty impressive rival in nubile human Estella Warren. 

Since Warren is a Canadian synchronised swimmer turned model and actress, what hope does poor Ari have? In a Tim Burton movie it's hard to tell.

Interestingly, this simian-human quadrangle of desire is handled with more understatement than you might expect of Tim Burton.

In real life three of the four involved in that quadrangle are single. The exception is British emigre Tim Roth, who lives fairly palatially and quite happily in the leafy suburbs of Los Angeles with his wife and children.

Bonham Carter, 35, has been on her own since the end of her high-profile, five-year relationship with actor/director Kenneth Branagh in 1999. 

Wahlberg, 30, has just broken up with actress Jordana Brewster, after two years. And 22-year-old Warren said definitively: "I'm not seeing anyone. I'm single at the moment."

Burton said: "There was a lot of talk about this human-human-ape-ape love-fest. But you'll notice in all cases it is pretty much unrequited. Maybe that's the result of me not getting dates when I was growing up." 

For him, at least, it's different now. Burton's live-in companion, Lisa Marie, is in Planet Of The Apes as she has been in three of his previous movies. The couple met when she was cast in Ed Wood. This time round Marie plays a kind of trophy ape-wife to a powerful gorilla. 

Since the apes on Burton's planet are evolved, talking primates with some social graces - and because real humans are playing them - the film-makers had to come up with the right blend of human characteristics and ape mannerisms.

Burton's rough formula was 20 per cent ape, 80pc human. And just as war films always do boot camps these days, Burton organised an ape school. 

The result is that compared to the original movie, where the apes were much more human than simian, Burton's apes have their traditional simian strengths. They lope as much as walk, they climb walls, they swing out of trees, they tear along the ground on all fours, they get very agitated when they're angry and they are strong enough to send an insolent human flying through the air.

The cast and crew spent a week at ape school getting a feel for simian mannerisms and movements. They spent time with live chimps. Or, as Bonham Carter, put it: "We were supposed to be getting in touch with our inner ape." 

And for the outer ape, there was always the make-up. The original movie got a best costume nomination at the Oscars largely on the strength of its make-up so the bar was high even allowing for huge leaps in the art. 

Burton's make-up designer is Rick Baker, who knows a thing or two about turning out a charismatic, camera-ready simian. His previous monkey business includes Gorillas In The Mist, Greystoke and Mighty Joe Young. It was Baker who convinced Burton to make Roth's villain a chimp because he had learned something about their volatility. 

"One of the things we felt was important, and similar to what they did on the original before alternative technologies existed, was keeping it human based," said Burton. "I wanted good actors as apes as opposed to all computer generated or whatever. So they needed to have state-of-the-art make-up. We tried to do it as much live as possible." 

So would the two big stars, Wahlberg and Bonham Carter, be happy to do the sequel which is set up, in a characteristically off kilter sort of way, in the final moments of the film?

"If Tim asked me, in a heartbeat," said Wahlberg. Bonham Carter sounded a little more ambivalent: clearly, six hours a day in make-up have their effect. Finally she said: "We'll just have to see, won't we?" 

Maybe corset-and-bodice roles suddenly don't seem so bad.

In fact, the guy with Wahlberg only resembles Duncan. He's Freddy Smalls, Wahlberg's bodyguard.

Mark Wahlberg is a sly old modelizer. The actor stepped out last week with Revlon beauty Rhea Durham — apparently because his main mannequin was out of town. 

We hear he has been quietly seeing Next model Frida Andersson since January. The two met in Miami on New Year's Eve and bonded deeply when they ran into each other again in Europe. The Swede missed Monday's New York opening of "Planet of the Apes," but was holding hands with Mark at Thursday's Boston screening, which benefited Wahlberg's Youth Foundation

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Fox's "Planet of the Apes" more than lived up to prerelease great expectations at the weekend boxoffice in North America as the Tim Burton-helmed remake returned home with a staggering estimate of $69.6 million, the biggest nonholiday three-day weekend in history.

If estimates hold, the debut of the Mark Wahlberg starrer will have topped that of Universal's "The Mummy Returns," which opened to $68.1 million in early May. The opening for "Apes" marks a company best for Fox, topping the debut weekend of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," which grossed $64.8 million, and is a personal best for Burton and Wahlberg.

Fox was ecstatic about the film's stellar performance. "I had big hopes for it, but nothing that began with a six," president of domestic distribution Bruce Snyder said. "We're very happy here -- congratulations to everybody."

The dinosaurs ran in second place during the weekend as Universal's "Jurassic Park III" chomped off an estimated $22.5 million, down 56% from its debut and bringing its estimated 12-day total to a sterling $124.8 million. Considering the sensational opening of "Apes" and the heights of "Jurassic III's" debut, the drop during the sophomore frame is within reason. "Jurassic III" reached the $100 million mark Thursday, after nine days in release -- the same number of days it took the original "Jurassic Park" and "Mummy Returns" to reach that level.

Sony's "America's Sweethearts" moved into the third slot with an estimated $15.7 million, off 48% from its debut. "For this summer, it's a good hold," Columbia Pictures president of worldwide marketing and distribution Jeff Blake said. "I think it will settle in going forward." Blake noted that the ensemble romantic comedy should prove a viable alternative to other films in the market and those that are coming. The Revolution Studios release featuring Julia Roberts has taken in an estimated $59.4 million after 10 days.

MGM's "Legally Blonde" starring Reese Witherspoon placed fourth with an estimated score of $9 million during its third weekend. The comedy slipped a scant 19% from the previous weekend -- the second-best hold among the Golden Dozen -- and has taken in about $59.8 million to date.

Paramount's "The Score" lifted an estimated $7.1 million to take the fifth spot, off a respectable 34% during its third frame. The cume for the Robert De Niro-Edward Norton starrer stands at an estimated $49.2 million.

The phenomenal debut of "Apes," which accounted for nearly 50% of the aggregate for the top 12 films, aided in boosting boxoffice prospects for the second half of the summer. The estimated total for the weekend's Golden Dozen is $143.5 million, up a solid 18% from last year's comparable frame. As of last week, the summer boxoffice is running 5% ahead of last year's pace.

National boxoffice for the seven days that began Friday undoubtedly will surpass $200 million, marking the seventh consecutive $200 million-plus week this summer -- a record stretch.

In a hopeful sign that the Teflon coating at the boxoffice of late -- with films failing to stick as they log large weekend-to-weekend declines -- might be wearing thin, six films in the Golden Dozen registered drops of less than 40%, compared with only two the previous weekend. "Blonde," "Score," Warner Bros.' "Cats & Dogs," Fox's "Dr. Dolittle 2," Universal's "The Fast and the Furious" and DreamWorks' "Shrek" sustained lower drops than has been the norm during recent weeks.

The lowest drop among the Golden Dozen was that of "Dolittle 2," which posted a scant 5% decline. The Eddie Murphy starrer placed seventh with an estimated $4.2 million, and its cume advanced to an estimated $100.8 million. "Jurassic III" and "Dolittle 2" are the eighth and ninth films released this year to surpass $100 million.

Regarding the sensational debut of "Apes," Fox said exit polls were not available at press time but noted that 62% of the audience was over 25 years of age. "We've got room to grow," said Snyder, who was especially pleased with the film's gender breakdown, noting that more females attended than the studio anticipated, yielding a 54-46 male-female breakdown.

To arrive at its impressive debut, "Apes" pulled in a record single-day gross for a Friday. The estimated $25 million racked up by "Apes" bested the $23.4 million Friday gross of "Mummy Returns."

The biggest opening weekend in history still belongs to Universal's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," which grossed $90.2 million during 1997's four-day Memorial Day frame. Because audience moviegoing patterns are dramatically different during a four-day holiday weekend, it is not an apples-to-apples comparison to pull out the first three days and compare them with a regular three-day frame.

That said, the tremendous boxoffice debut of "Apes" fell just shy of the four-day Memorial Day weekend grosses of Paramount's "Mission: Impossible 2" and Buena Vista's "Pearl Harbor," which opened with $70.8 million and $75.2 million, respectively. The debuts of "M:I-2" and "Pearl" are the second- and third-biggest weekend grosses in history behind "Lost World."

IDP's "Greenfingers" debuted in limited release in Los Angeles and New York, and the Fireworks/Samuel Goldwyn acquisition grossed an estimated $71,175 from nine locations, averaging $7,908 per theater. The romantic comedy expands Friday to 30-40 theaters. First Look's "Bread & Tulips," an Italian-language comedy, opened in one theater in New York and grossed an estimated $30,000.

MGM's "Ghost World" took in an estimated $128,000 from eight locations during its sophomore frame for a solid per-theater average of $16,000, moving its cume to about $305,000. Fine Line's "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" grossed an estimated $115,000 from 11 venues, averaging a hardy $10,455 per theater and bringing its total to about $367,000. "Hedwig" moves into the top 15 markets Friday.

The third weekend of Artisan's "Made" brought in an estimated $631,000 as the distributor upped its theater count by 86, bringing the total to 105. The Jon Favreau-Vince Vaughn starrer averaged $6,010 per theater and has taken in an estimated $1.3 million.

The top-grossing films during last year's comparable weekend were Universal's "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps" with $42.5 million and DreamWorks' "What Lies Beneath" with $22.9 million. The Hollywood Reporter forecasts the total for all films this weekend in the low- to mid-$150 million range, up significantly from last year's $131.8 million.

National boxoffice during the week ending July 26 rose 4% from the comparable seven-day period in 2000 ($229.9 million vs. $221.3 million). The year-to-date total holds a 7% advantage on last year's pace ($4.57 billion vs. $4.27 billion).

Other films in the top 10 this weekend are sixth-place "Cats & Dogs" with an estimated $4.5 million, bringing its total to about $81.5 million. "Furious" was No. 8 with about $3.8 million, moving its total to an estimated $132.2 million, followed by Dimension's "Scary Movie 2" with an estimated $2.6 million, raising its cume to about $67 million.

The long-running "Shrek" bounced back into the top 10 as it took in an estimated $1.7 million, bringing its estimated total to a stellar $255.5 million. It is the highest-grossing film released this summer and year-to-date.

Tim Burton's "reimagining" of the 1968 sci-fi classic Planet of the Apes swung in with a monster $69.6 million over the three-day weekend, according to preliminary studio estimates Sunday. 

If the early figures hold, 20th Century Fox's Apes will set the record for the biggest nonholiday opening, ahead of the $68.1 million wrapped up by The Mummy Returns two months ago. (The Lost World: Jurassic Park holds the overall record with $72.1 million in 1997.) 

On Friday alone, the simian saga, pitting Mark Wahlberg's wayward astronaut-turned-reluctant hero against Tim Roth's chimp with a chip on his shoulder, raked in $25 million, according to Fox. That would be the third best single-day take behind 1999's Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace, which scored $28 million on its Wednesday debut day, and The Lost World, which netted $26 million on the Sunday of its opening weekend. 

Apes, which was barely finished in time and received mostly middling reviews, will also go down as the biggest opening weekend for Burton, whose previous standard was $42 million for 1992's Batman Returns. 

Overall, Apes took in nearly as much as the rest of the top 10 combined. It averaged nearly $20,000 per each of its 3,500 theaters. Studio bean counters estimate Apes could eventually wind up with $200 million in total receipts. (We smell a sequel--or four.) 

In a bit of box-office Darwinism, last weekend's reigning reptiles are this weekend's also-rans. But while Jurassic Park III failed to evolve ahead of Apes' primates, the dino sequel still gobbled up $22.5 million (a 56 percent drop from last weekend) and passed the $100 million mark. The Universal release has grossed $124.8 million in 12 days. 

Last week's number two, the Julia Roberts-led ensemble comedy America's Sweethearts, dropped about 50 percent, taking in $15.7 million in third place. 

With Apes the week's only new major entry, there wasn't much of a shake-up in the top 10. One notable tidbit, however: Dr. Dolittle 2, Eddie Murphy's talk-to-the-animals retread, earned $4.2 million over the weekend to bring its total to $100.8 million, the ninth film this year to hit the milestone (JP3 was the eighth). 

In limited release, Greenfingers, starring Clive Owen and Helen Mirren as a couple of cons who become prize-winning gardeners, grossed about $72,000 in eight theaters for a $7,908 average. 

All told, ticket sales were up for the second consecutive weekend. The top 12 movies grossed $143.4 million, a 6 percent hike from last weekend, and an 18 percent gain from last year. 

Here are the weekend's top 10 as compiled by Exhibitor Relations from studio estimates (final figures are due Monday): 

1. Planet of the Apes, $69.6 million 
2. Jurassic Park III, $22.5 million 
3. America's Sweethearts, $15.7 million 
4. Legally Blonde, $9 million 
5. The Score, $7.1 million 
6. Cats & Dogs, $4.5 million 
7. Dr. Dolittle 2, $4.2 million 
8. The Fast and The Furious, $3.8 million 
9. Scary Movie 2, $2.6 million 
10. Shrek, $1.7 million 

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Primates inherited the box office from dinosaurs with what looks to be a record debut.

Tim Burton's ``Planet of the Apes'' took over the No. 1 slot from ``Jurassic Park III,'' grossing $69.55 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

``This really proves apes do rule the planet,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the box office.

If the estimate holds when final numbers are released Monday, that would be the second best three-day opening ever and a record for a movie premiering over a non-holiday weekend. ``The Mummy Returns'' set the previous non-holiday record last May with $68.1 million.

``Jurassic Park III'' fell to No. 2 in its second weekend, taking in $22.5 million. The movie has grossed $124.8 million in 12 days, crossing the $100 million mark in just over a week.

The all-time best opening is held by that film's predecessor, ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park,'' which debuted with $72 million from Friday to Sunday over Memorial Day weekend in 1997.

``Planet of the Apes,'' a new take on the 1968 movie, stars Mark Wahlberg as an astronaut stranded on a world ruled by talking simians. Tim Roth and Helena Bonham Carter co-star as two of the key apes.

Reviews were mixed for the remake, though Burton earned generally high marks for the visual flair of his ape planet.

Playing in 3,500 theaters, ``Planet of the Apes'' averaged a whopping $19,871 a cinema. The movie took in nearly as much money as the rest of the top 10 combined.

``You're dealing with three things here,'' said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released the film. ``You're dealing with the concept of `Planet of the Apes,' you're dealing with Tim Burton and you're dealing with Mark Wahlberg. It became an event.''

The original ``Planet of the Apes'' was followed by four sequels, a live-action television show and an animated TV series. Fox executives said no decision has been made on a sequel to Burton's version.

``I think it's an enduring idea, and audiences are having fun with this. But as for a sequel, it's too early to say,'' said Tom Rothman, Fox studio chairman.

The overall box office was up for the second straight weekend after a three-week slump. The top 12 movies grossed $143.4 million, up 18 percent from the same weekend a year ago.

Hollywood revenues are running about 10 percent ahead of summer 1999, when the industry had its best summer ever. With two big sequels opening over the next two weekends - ``Rush Hour 2'' and ``American Pie 2'' - a new summer box-office record appears likely.

``This summer proves the unpredictability of summer,'' Dergarabedian said. ``On paper, this looked like a no-brainer that was going to sweep all the way through every weekend. But we fell into a little slump there. Now we're back on track to have a record summer.''

Besides ``Jurassic Park III,'' ``Dr. Dolittle 2'' also topped $100 million, the ninth movie released this year to cross that mark.

``Planet of the Apes'' was the only new film in wide release this weekend.

In limited release, ``Greenfingers'' had a solid debut, grossing $71,175 in eight theaters for a $7,908 average. The movie stars Clive Owen and Helen Mirren in a tale of prison inmates who become award-winning gardeners.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures are to be released Monday.

1. ``Planet of the Apes,'' $69.55 million.
2. ``Jurassic Park III,'' $22.5 million.
3. ``America's Sweethearts,'' $15.7 million.
4. ``Legally Blonde,'' $9 million.
5. ``The Score,'' $7.1 million.
6. ``Cats & Dogs,'' $4.5 million.
7. ``Dr. Dolittle 2,'' $4.2 million.
8. ``The Fast and the Furious,'' $3.8 million.
9. ``Scary Movie 2,'' $2.6 million.
10. ``Shrek,'' $1.7 million. 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``Planet of the Apes'' emerged as the 800-pound gorilla at the weekend box office in North America, breaking several records in the process.

The simian saga, billed by director Tim Burton as a ''re-imagination'' of the 1968 sci-fi classic, opened at No. 1 with a three-day sum of $69.6 million since its Friday bow, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

Reviews for the Twentieth Century Fox release were mixed, but moviegoers were attracted by a combination of the ``Planet'' franchise, Burton's edgy reputation and the burgeoning star power of headliner Mark Wahlberg, said Bruce Snyder, the studio's president of distribution.

Last weekend's box office champ, ``Jurassic Park III,'' slipped to No. 2 with $22.5 million, followed by the Julia Roberts romantic comedy ``America's Sweethearts'' with $15.7 million.

If figures hold when final data are released on Monday, the three-day tally for ``Planet of the Apes'' will rank as the biggest non-holiday opener ever, Snyder said. The old mark was $68.1 million, set last May by ``The Mummy Returns.'' The overall three-day record is held by ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' with $72.1 million.

Snyder said his film's $25 million Friday take was the third best for a single day, after the $28 million Wednesday opening by ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace'' in 1999 and the $26 million Sunday haul during the first weekend of ''The Lost World'' in 1997.

BURTON'S BEST

Additionally, ``Planet'' sets a new record for Burton, surpassing the $46 million opening for the 42-year-old director's ``Batman Returns'' in 1992. The opening is also good news for Fox, which has not had a big hit since ``Cast Away'' last December. Fox is a unit of Rupert Murdoch's Fox Entertainment Group Inc. .

Wahlberg plays a U.S. Air Force astronaut who crash lands on a bizarro, futuristic world where sophisticated monkeys have the upper hand over base humans. Helena Bonham-Carter co-stars as an enlightened ape, and Tim Roth as their hairy nemesis.

``Jurassic Park III'' (Universal) passed the century mark last Thursday, its ninth day of release. Its 12-day total now stands at $124.8 million. The film, which suffered a 56 percent drop in viewership thanks in part to the arrival of ``Apes,'' should end up in the $175 million-$200 million area, said Nikki Rocco, Universal's distribution president.

Universal Pictures is a unit of Vivendi Universal .

``Dr. Dolittle 2,'' at No. 7, was expected to pass the $100 million mark on Sunday, its 38th day of release. Fox's Eddie Murphy comedy pulled in an estimated $4.2 million over the weekend, taking its total to $100.8 million.

Overall ticket sales jumped for the second consecutive weekend. The top 12 movies grossed $143.4 million, up six percent from last weekend, and up 18 percent from the year-ago period when Murphy's ``Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'' opened at No. 1 with $42.5 million.

``Planet of the Apes'' was this weekend's sole new wide release. New releases next weekend include the steamy Antonio Banderas/Angelina Jolie romance ``Original Sin,'' the family comedy ``The Princess Diaries'' and the Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker cop comedy ``Rush Hour 2.''

``America's Sweethearts'' (Columbia), which dropped 48 percent in its second weekend, has pulled in $59.4 million after 10 days, and has an ``excellent chance'' of reaching $100 million, said Jeff Blake, the studio's president of marketing and distribution. With the marketplace dominated by action films, Blake said ``Sweethearts'' would stand out as a romantic comedy alternative. Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp (news - web sites).

Rounding out the top five were the Reese Witherspoon comedy ''Legally Blonde'' (MGM) with $9.0 million, and the Robert De Niro heist thriller ``The Score'' (Paramount) with $7.1 million, both down one spot in their third weekends. Their respective 17-day totals are $59.8 million and $49.2 million.

MGM's full name is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc

NEW YORK -- It's part of Mark Wahlberg's cocky "street" upbringing that he enjoys digging into people he likes. 

 Mention the lawsuit that has been filed against The Perfect Storm by the family of ship captain Billy Tyne, and he answers, "Yeah, they're suin' 'cause George (Clooney) sucked so bad ... I'm kiddin'. Somewhere George is giving it back to me now." 

 Suggest that, in his role as the lead human in Tim Burton's Planet Of The Apes, he had it easy because he didn't have to wear tons of latex and sweat like a pig, and he has another quick retort. 

 "Yeah, let me tell you, they were smellin' like pigs, too," Wahlberg cracks. "I'd taken a bit of pleasure in their misery. But then I realized after all the wisecracks I threw out there, that between 'action' and 'cut,' these guys are gonna be stomping all over me for pretty much the entire shoot. Getting them mad was not a smart thing for me to do. 

 "I started being nice to Tim Roth. There's a guy who, when he's in makeup, is every bit the monster he was onscreen." 

 Make-or-break move 

 It's a long way from Dorchester, Mass., to Ape Planet. He has had stops along the way on the planet of pop-rappers (his Marky Mark/brother-of-the-guy-in-New Kids On The Block years) and the planet of underwear models (his Calvin Klein years). But Wahlberg begs to differ with anyone who thinks starring in a $100-million blockbuster is a make-or-break move in his grand voyage toward serious-actor status. 

 "I feel like I accomplished what I set out to do a while ago, which was to prove to certain filmmakers and certain people that count that I was capable of interesting work," says the actor, who inherits Charlton Heston's mantle (if not his loincloth) in Tim Burton's reimagining of the 1968 cult fave, which hit theatres yesterday. 

 "When I did Basketball Diaries, PTA (director Paul Thomas Anderson) saw me in that and cast me in Boogie Nights. And after Boogie Nights, I was over it. 

 "There are still naysayers, but I don't care either way. 

 "Y'know, I've changed a lot, but hopefully for the better. I've distanced myself from Marky Mark. I'm actually doing this acting thing professionally," he says wryly. 

 And would the aforementioned Charlton Heston (who has an ape cameo in Apes) be one of those naysayers? Wahlberg hints at it. Seems the younger actor was asked at the MTV Awards about Heston's pro-gun stance and said he disagreed with it. 

 "It's more complicated than that. In the inner-city, I know people who need a weapon to protect themselves ... But he was asked about it on CNN. And he said, 'He (Wahlberg) has got the right to say what he wants, but we've got the right to bear arms, too. So he better just deliver in that role.' 

 "I hope he likes the movie. I don't care if he likes my performance. I mean, his style of acting is obviously very different from mine, he's cranked up past 10. But the guy's a legend. I respect his work, and I went down and paid my respects when he was on set. 

 'He lied' 

 "He was nice (but) I think he lied a little. He said it was an honour to be in a movie with me. I'll take it, but I don't believe it." 

 Wahlberg is soon to be seen in Rock Star, a movie inspired by the story of "Ripper" Owens, the lead singer of a Judas Priest tribute band who went on to the real band. 

 Wahlberg found himself a real metal dream band of his own to play with. 

 "We played live at the L.A. Sports Arena -- myself, Jason Bonham on drums (son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham), Zakk Wylde, who played with Ozzy, and Jeff Pilson from Dokken. We opened for Great White, WASP, Whitesnake and Megadeth. It was great." 

 Did it give him thoughts of returning to the music biz? 

 "Do I wanna be dancing on MTV on Request Live, or whatever it is? No. Certain people, that life is very tempting. They've gotta have 13-year-old girls outside their door. 

 "I have other reasons for doing what I do."