Asia not exactly ape over 'Apes'

By CNN's Alex Frew McMillan

HONG KONG, China -- Due to a quirk of timing, audiences in Hong Kong were the first to see what's expected to be one of the northern summer's hottest films.

"Planet of the Apes," director Tim Burton's remake of the 1968 cult classic, opened to the public on Thursday in Hong Kong, ahead of the United States debut on Friday.

Hong Kong movie theaters reported some spare seats, despite heavy hype. The movie also opens in Japan and Taiwan on Saturday.

It's expected to edge out the current frontrunner for the summer blockbuster title, "Jurassic Park III."

It's unusual for a movie to open in Asia the same time as U.S., let alone ahead of the American release. Hong Kong typically has a one to two month lag in getting movies.

"'Pearl Harbor' was shown in the United States, then Japan, then Hong Kong, then Singapore," said Richie Lam, head of the Hong Kong government's film-programs office. "It's the system, right? We can't control or address the system."

But 20th Century Fox, the film's distributor, is clearly counting on Asian audiences going, well, ape over the $100 million remake.

Action and special-effects-driven movies are popular in Asia. The fact that the movie is science fiction, taking place mostly on a fictional planet rather than the United States, may make its appeal more universal.

A 36-hour head start

The movie is expected to make between $49 million and $51 million for its first weekend in the United States, about $2 million more than "Jurassic Park III."

Lam noted that the popularity of special effects is not unique to Asia, with U.S. audiences also lapping them up. But the biggest Hollywood films in Asia typically feature the biggest stars or a lot of action, preferably both.

"Planet of the Apes" stars Mark Wahlberg, in Charlton Heston's original role, as Air Force Cpt. Leo Davidson. The astronaut lands and gets stranded on a planet where apes hunt humans.

Tim Roth is the arch anthropoid, barely recognizable under his ape suit as Thade, the military leader. The movie also stars Helena Bonham Carter.

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The public debut of the movie came in Hong Kong via another quirk. Films normally start their run on Thursday here, rather than Friday in the United States.

The 12-hour time difference between Hong Kong and the U.S. East Coast meant moviegoers who absolutely, positively have to be first in line had a 36-hour head start in Asia.

Though ticket sales were brisk in Hong Kong, the movie didn't sell out Thursday at UA Pacific Place. The theater is in an upmarket mall in Hong Kong's central Admiralty district.

On Friday, kiddie-oriented "Spy Kids" -- think "Mission Impossible" meets "Willie Wonka" -- was outselling "Apes" during the day.

"Shrek" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" were also giving it a run for customers' money. But "Apes" was looking strong for the weekend.

"I think we'll have nearly a full house tonight," said Carrie Chow, Pacific Place's manager on duty.

Reinforcing what movie distributors figure Asian audiences will eat up, all the movies were action or animation, with the cartoon "Atlantis" and explosion-driven "Swordfish" and "Pearl Harbor" the only other options.

"Apes" is released by Fox, a unit of News Corp. The company is counting on huge ancillary-products sales to boost a big box-office take.

The movie is expected to appeal to younger audiences as well as older fans of the original. That spawned four sequels, up to 1973.