weekend box-office

"Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" continued its run as the top-grossing film in this weekend's box-office estimates, while positive reviews and strong word-of-mouth helped "The Help" make a strong second place opening.

In a surprise box-office finish, "The Smurfs" tied with sci-fi western mashup "Cowboys & Aliens", taking in an estimated $36.2 million in ticket sales.

'Fast Five' kicked into high gear at the weekend box office. The action-packed sequel, the fifth in the 'Fast and the Furious' franchise, took in a whopping $83.6 million, setting a record for the best April opening ever. (April's previous owner was fittingly 2009's 'Fast and Furious, with $71 million.)

Four months into 2011, the movie business finally has the year's first huge global hit. Universal's "Fast Five" debuted to an estimated $83.6 million domestically this weekend, more than doubling up on the year's previous best start ($39.2 million for Fox's "Rio") and shattering Universal's previous best opening ($72.1 million for "The Lost World: Jurassic Park"). Rea