Thanks to a lot of buzz, solid reviews and great word-of-mouth, the film adaption of the best-selling book The Help enjoyed an impressive opening weekend. The DreamWorks release grossed $25.5 million Friday through Saturday, and when combining its Wednesday and Thursday tallies, has already grossed $35.4 million to date.

Despite The Help’s strong three-day performance, the Viola Davis-featured film was not the box office winner. That honor goes to Rise of the Planet of the Apes for the second week in a row. Dropping a respectable 52 percent from the previous weekend, the prequel earned $27.5 million over the weekend.

The Help’s second week drop is not expected to be as steep, however. The movie, which centers on the relationship between Southern white women and their Black maids in the Civil Rights Era, has received an A-plus grade from the word-of-mouth tracker Cinemascore. Reuters also reports that 60 percent of moviegoers were over the age of 35 and of that figure, 95 percent listed that they would “definitely recommend” the film in surveys.

(Photo: Touchstone Pictures)