Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
20th Century Fox

Andy Serkis sci-fi thriller Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ruled the worldwide box office, taking $100 million (£58m) on its opening weekend.

$73 million (£43m) of that came from the US, a big improvement over predecessor Rise of the Planet of the Apes which drew roughly $55m on its opening weekend in the States.

Dawn easily fought off competition from Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction, which on its third week of release drew $16.5m in the US.

The total also took 20<sup>th Century Fox's 2014 domestic box office receipts past the $1bn mark, a total largely comprised of the success of superhero time-travel epic X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Transformers still performed best worldwide, but that's due to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes not yet being released in some territories. It is released in the UK this week. Transformers took over $100m in international markets.

In the US Melissa McCarthy comedy Tammy came third in the battle of the box office, with 22 Jump Street in fourth and How To Train Your Dragon 2 in fifth. For another new release you have to venture all the way down to 18<sup>th, where Bollywood picture Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania took $401,000.

Richard Linklater's critically acclaimed Boyhood enters the chart at 20 with a $359,000 haul.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will be released in the UK on Thursday 17 July.