Box Office: 'Apes' out front with 'Help' on the way

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes''The Help'"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is on track to win the weekend's domestic B.O., with early Friday estimates at $24 million-$27 million for the weekend, while "The Help" is hugely overperforming in all demographics, spurring a three-day estimate that would put the film's grosses at $21 million-$23 million.B.O. observers are projecting 20th Century Fox's "Apes" to top Friday's B.O. derby, with grosses in the $7.5 million-$8.5 million range. "The Help," from Disney and Dreamworks, is likely to earn between $6.5 million and $7.5 million today.The breadth of success enjoyed by "The Help" surprised B.O. pundits, who attributed the pic's big numbers to rabid word-of-mouth (particularly among African-American and arthouse crowds) and critical praise. Pic opened Wednesday and took in almost $10 million over two days.The weekend's other wide pics aren't performing nearly as well.Warner Bros.' "Final Destination 5" could top out at $21 million through Sunday -- the most optimistic projection -- vs. pre-weekend tracking that had the film at around $25 million. Estimates on the lower end have "Destination" in the $15 million-$20 million range, given Friday's projected $7.5 million gross.Audience interest in "Destination" saw a dip in tracking early on Friday but, typical of the horror genre, the pic likely will pop during latenight showtimes.Among the other new releases, it's shaping to be a neck-and-neck race between Sony's "30 Minutes or Less" and Fox's "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie," both of which should land just north of $10 million. "Glee" is more of a wildcard, dependent on how its core under-25 fanbase responds later tonight. Some observers are more conservative, projecting $7 - $8 million through the weekend. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com