‘Apes’ rise to No. 1 this weekend with $54 million

Featuring James Franco, Freida Pinto and Andy Serkis, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes’’ tells the story of how lower primates began evolving to take over Earth from humans.

The film was well received by critics, who found it a smarter-than-average summer action flick. Its impressive visual effects rely on performances from Serkis and other actors as the foundation for photo-realistic apes created by digital artists.

“I think the reviews highlight the groundbreaking nature of this movie. When you have effects that have never been seen before, people respond to that. They know they have to be seen to be believed,’’ said Fox distribution executive Chris Aronson. “The technology is actually servicing a really good, strong, emotional story.’’

Sony’s family tale “The Smurfs’’ remained at No. 2 for the second straight weekend with $21 million, lifting its domestic total to $76.2 million.

Universal’s sci-fi Western “Cowboys & Aliens,’’ which debuted at No. 1 a week earlier, narrowly ahead of “The Smurfs,’’ fell to third with $15.8 million, raising its total to $67.4 million.

Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman’s comedy “The Change-Up,’’ also from Universal, opened a weak No. 4 with $13.5 million. The movie centers on two old friends — a successful but frazzled attorney and family man, and a womanizing slacker — who magically trade bodies.

With $12.2 million domestically and $61.8 million overseas, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’’ raised its worldwide total to $1.13 billion. In the past week, it became this year’s top-grossing global release, passing the $1.04 billion haul of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.’’

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes’’ added $23.4 million in 25 overseas markets, among them Russia, Spain and Australia. That gives it a worldwide total of $77.4 million, with the film expanding to more countries over the next few weeks.

The film’s unexpectedly large domestic haul comes after a weekend where “Cowboys & Aliens’’ debuted well below projections while “The Smurfs’’ did far better. That resulted in a tie for the No. 1 spot the previous Sunday, with “Cowboys & Aliens’’ pulling slightly ahead once final weekend numbers were counted Monday.