Predicting The 20 Highest Grossing Movies Of 2017

Prediction: $675m

The last film might have been slightly worse than the original, but with more action and even more impressive effects it took an extra $300m at the box office, suggesting that audiences really do have a thing for monkey movies.

This time out Woody Harrelson leads an even smaller human cast, with the friction between monkeys and humans hitting boiling point.

Why It's Golden

The franchise is a banker, even if it costs a lot to make (so the margins are tighter), with the sequel improving massively on the first one. I can't see the same improvement, or indeed quite the same level of success, but there's definitely a precedent to suggest that audiences will come out.

If fans get wind of the fact that this movie may actually explain how the Statue Of Liberty falls, that might push it even more.

Will It Be Any Good?

Both Rise... and Dawn... were great films, built not just on good effects, but on strong story-telling and good performances, and there is genuinely enough left in this franchise to provide both. Woody Harrelson is a great choice to lead (even if him as a military leader is a little funny), and you know you can rely on Andy Serkis to out-perform everyone.

After the escalation of the last two, all out war means more action and more drama, and that can't be a bad thing.