As America celebrated Independence Day last Thursday, studios hoped to lure families to the cinema on a holiday weekend that is traditionally more about barbecues than blockbusters. But it appears plenty of people had time for Gru and the Minion crew, as Despicable Me 2 soared to an impressive $82.5 million across the three-day weekend, with a huge $142 million since its release.
But it seems audiences are also ready to declare their independence from the Johnny Depp / Jerry Bruckheimer / Gore Verbinski partnership as the trio’s latest adventure outing, The Lone Ranger, arrived with a disappointing $29.4 million over the weekend and $48.9 million all told for the five days. It’s a bad start for a film reportedly costing more than $215 million to make, let alone promote.
Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy’s cop comedy **The Heat **fell to third place, but stayed strong with $25 million while Monsters University suffered more from the new toon’s arrival, but still took in $19.5 million at fourth, crossing $216 million after three weeks. World War Z rounded out the top five with $18.2 million.
White House Down fell to $13.5 million in sixth place, ahead of Man Of Steel in seventh with $11.4 million. Kevin Hart’s new comedy special, Let Me Explain, succeeded as counterprogramming against the family films and earning $10 million in the process (with $17 million in the bank since it hit screens on Thursday). This Is The End was down to ninth with $5.8 million and Now You See Me fell to 10th, taking in $2.7 million.
To see a Minion jump on a cowboy’s head in the full studio estimate chart listings, head to Box Office Mojo.