Box Office Update: 'Rise of the Apes' Safely Wins Friday Race; 'The Help' Comes in a Strong No. 2, While 'Glee: The 3D Concert Movie' Stalls

The Friday box office brought mixed news for the 20th Century Fox family: Rise of the Planet of the Apes won the day with $8.1 million, while Glee: The 3D Concert Movie opened to a meek $2.7 million.

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Glee the Movie is now looking at an opening weekend gross of roughly $7 million, the poorest performance among the recent spate of 3D concert pics. Those who turned out did like what they saw, giving the movie—which is only playing in 3D theaters—an A CinemaScore (moviegoers under the age of 25 gave it an A+).

Fox is hoping for strong matinee business on Saturday, considering Glee the Movie is appealing heavily to younger girls. Of Friday's audience, 82% were female, while 66% were under the age of 25.

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Glee the Movie cost $9 million, excluding marketing costs, so Fox's financial risk is minimized. However, Fox's film and television studios, which partnered on the project, were hoping for more, considering how popular the TV show is.

Rise of the Apes—which has now grossed $84.5 million domestically--is on course to stay at No. 1 in its second weekend, although DreamWorks and Participant Media’s The Help is proving a worthy opponent. Early Friday evening, it appeared that the two films were running neck-and-neck, but Apes pulled ahead (Disney never expected the pic to beat Apes).

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The Help, which opened on Wednesday, grossed $7.6 million on Friday for a stellar three-day total of $17.5 million. The movie, with a modest production budget of $25 million, now looks to score a weekend gross of $22 million, putting its five-day debut north of $30 million in a sizeable win for DreamWorks, Participant and Disney, which is distributing the film.

The Help placed No. 2 on Friday, followed by Warner Bros. and New Line’s new entry Final Destination 3D, which grossed $7.3 million.

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Final Destination 5 is on track to earn $18 million for the weekend, slightly less than expected. The pic received a B+ CinemaScore, with males making up 54% of the audience.

Ruben Fleischer's R-rated action comedy 30 Minutes or Less, the fourth new film of the weekend, grossed $4.9 million to come in No. 4. The pic, from Sony and Media Rights Capital, is expected to gross $13 million for the weekend, versus the $15 million to $17 million that Sony and MRC were hoping for. Receiving a B CinemaScore, the film also played heavily to males, who made up 60% of the audience.

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As with Glee the Movie and The Help, Final Destination 5 and 30 Minutes or Less had relatively modest budgets, costing $45 million and just under $28 million, respectively. MRC financed 30 Minutes.

Sony holdover The Smurfs grossed $3.8 million on Friday to come in No. 5, and for a domestic total to date of $91.8 million.