It seems that Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s animated sequel, Despicable Me 2, not only won the holiday box office last week, but also the entire weekend. The film has quickly become one of the summer’s hottest films while amassing an estimated $142 million in its first five days, playing in 3,997 theaters in North America.
Despicable Me 2 opened nationwide on Wednesday with $34.3 million, dipped a bit on the 4th of July, then spiked back up to $30.5 million on Friday. The studio has estimated the film’s three-day weekend at $82.5 million, making it the third-biggest Independence Day opening after Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Spider-Man 2. Despicable Me 2 has also made more in its first five days then both Toy Story 3 and Shrek the Third, setting it up as one of the most successful animated movies released to date, as well as one of Universal’s biggest hits in their 75+ year history.
The Lone Ranger continues to fall in comparison to its expectations. When it opened last Wednesday, it gained less than $10 million. However, the film failed to pick up any traction over the weekend. It amassed the sub par amount of $29.4 million. Overall The Lone Ranger has ended up grossing a little under $50 million in its first five days.
The Heat continued to do well over the weekend. The action comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy came in third place in the box office with $25 million. In just ten days, the film has already brought in $86.4 million domestically which means it should cross the $100 million mark sometime this week, making it McCarthy’s second movie of the year to do so.
Monsters University took a drop in the box office since the opening of Despicable Me 2. The Disney and Pixar prequel animated feature came in fourth place over the weekend. It added another $19.5 million to take its domestic gross over $200 million, the sixth movie of 2013 to reach that benchmark. So far, Monsters University has grossed $216 domestically since opening three weeks ago and this weekend it added another $29.5 internationally in 32 markets, pushing it over the $400 million mark globally.
The Brad Pitt film, World War Z from Paramount Pictures came in fifth place with roughly $18 million this weekend. It has currently grossed $158.8 million.
