The Help, a drama about a Southern white woman who writes a book about black women employed as housekeepers in pre-Civil Rights era America, topped the weekend box office, industry data showed on Sunday.

Despite some predictions that Hurricane Irene’s charge up the US east coast would slash movie attendance, The Help needed little help in attracting a crowd almost equal to that seen last week, tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

The Disney film brought in an estimated $14.3 million over the weekend for a total of $96.6 million to date, the firm said, citing preliminary figures.

The Help dusted two new films in their premiere weekends: Colombiana, a Sony picture starring Zoe Saldana which brought in $10.3 million, and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, which earned $8.68 million.

In the number four spot was Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The prequel to the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes earned $8.6 million over the weekend, bringing its total gross to $148.5 million.

Our Idiot Brother, starring Paul Rudd, debuted in fifth place with a $6.58 million take.

Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, fell to the number-six spot, bringing in $5.7 million.

Live-action and animation flick The Smurfs, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry, pulled in $4.8 million and looked set to finish in seventh place.

Conan the Barbarian, with Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa in the old Arnold Schwarzenegger role in this remake of the beefcake classic, came in eighth, taking in $3.1 million.

Fright Night, another release from Disney, was in ninth with $3.03 million in ticket receipts, and was followed by the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid Love, at $2.9 million. The comedy has earned $69.5 million so far.