Disney may Gru the day it tried to take on a certain animated antihero and his horde of yellow minions.
Universal’s Despicable Me 2 had a very un-despicable run at the multiplex, transforming into a veritable box office monster. The animated sequel filched an estimated $82.5 million during the traditional three-day weekend. Counting its Wednesday-Thursday take over the Fourth of July holiday, Gru and his overalled henchmen collected $142.1 million—the best five-day launch for an animated movie ever. Now, that’s worth a maniacal laugh or two.
Things weren’t nearly as chuckle-worthy for Disney’s pricey adventure The Lone Ranger. It seems that the movie’s many train wrecks provided a bit of foreshadowing for the fate of the film itself. Granted, the Johnny Depp-led flick rode to a halfway hearty hi-ho-haul of silver, mining $29.4 million from moviegoers during the weekend (and $48.9 million over the five-day holiday). Alas, Disney spent north of $200 million to make the would-be blockbuster. And while Silver has a few weeks left to gallop in theaters, most prognosticators believe the flick may be the summer’s biggest bomb. Sorry, kemosabe.
The Heat, the R-rated buddy cop flick starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, settled behind the two newcomers with $25 million, good enough for third place. It finished ahead of two other holdovers, Monsters University ($19.6 million for fourth) and World War Z ($18.2 million for fifth).
Two other new films made a bit of a ripple this week as well. Comedian Kevin Hart made an impressive $10.1 million debut with his stand-up doc Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (good for eighth place). And The Way, Way Back, despite appearing in just 19 theaters, earned a tidy $575,000. That’s a whopping per-theater average of about $30,300.
Final figures update: 1. Despicable Me 2, $83.5 million; 2. The Lone Ranger, $29.2 million; 3. The Heat, $24.8 million; 4. Monsters University, $19.7 million; 5. World War Z, $18.4 million.
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