It was a bad time to be a spy, a vampire, a barbarian or Anne Hathaway in love this weekend, as none of the new films launching at the US box office showed enough power to fend off the combined clout of issues drama The Help or Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which simply switched positions at the top of the charts.

With huge positive word of mouth and appreciative audiences, The Help has turned into a success, leaping over Caesar and co to claim to top spot with $20.4 million this weekend and $71.8 million so far. But those smart simians won’t worry too much as Apes brought in a solid $16.3 million in its third week of release.

The best of the new arrivals was Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, which launched with Aromavision but already smells a little, as it arrived in third place with $12 million. That was still better than new take on Conan the Barbarian, which could only manage fourth and $10 million. At fifth, we find The Smurfs with $8 million.

Sixth place went to one of the other new films, this one the remake of Fright Night. Sadly, it seems Colin Farrell was unable to lure people in with his vampire charms as the movie only made $7.9 million. Final Destination 5 fell to seventh place with $7.7 million and 30 Minutes or Less was eighth with $6.3 million.

But the bloodiest nose of the weekend went to novel adaptation One Day, in which Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess chart a friendship/relationship over 20 years. With a lower cinema count than most of the other big releases, it could only muster $5.1 million. Crazy, Stupid, Love rounded out the chart at 10th with $4.9 million.

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