Over the 10th busiest movie-going weekend of all-time, Universal’s Despicable Me 2 had one of the largest debuts ever for an animated film while Disney’s The Lone Ranger fell far short of expectations.
The Steve Carell-fronted, minion-based film opened to a whopping $142.1 million, surpassing even Toy Story 3‘s debut of $141 million. On a budget of a relatively average $76 million, Despicable Me 2 is already far into the plus, with worldwide receipts for the film totaling $293 million. For comparison, 2010’s Despicable Me earned $543 million during its run at the box office on a budget of $69 million.
Meanwhile, Armie Hammer and Johhny Depp’s western-based saga opened to a disappointing $48.9 million. Rather than The Lone Ranger living up to expectations, it followed suit of failed western films Cowboys & Aliens, Wild, Wild West and Disney’s John Carter.
“We thought it would appeal to a broader audience than it did,” Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney, said. The film audience skewed heavily toward older moviegoers because of the film’s PG-13 rating due to violence. Over 68 percent of The Lone Ranger‘s audience was older than 25. Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Cruetz has predicted a $100 million lose for Disney.
Due to strong competition from Despicable Me 2, Monsters University‘s take at the box office dropped 57% from last week to take the #4 spot with estimated $19.6 million.
The Top 10 films at this weekend’s box office are as follows (according to BoxOfficeMojo):
| Total Gross |
||||||||||
|
1 |
N |
Despicable Me 2 | Uni. |
$82,518,000 |
– |
3,997 |
– |
$20,645 |
$142,076,000 |
$76 |
|
2 |
N |
The Lone Ranger | BV |
$29,432,000 |
– |
3,904 |
– |
$7,539 |
$48,936,000 |
$215 |
|
3 |
2 |
The Heat | Fox |
$25,000,000 |
-36.1% |
3,184 |
+3 |
$7,852 |
$86,398,000 |
$43 |
|
4 |
1 |
Monsters University | BV |
$19,590,000 |
-57.0% |
3,739 |
-265 |
$5,239 |
$216,127,000 |
– |
|
5 |
3 |
World War Z | Par. |
$18,200,000 |
-38.9% |
3,316 |
-291 |
$5,489 |
$158,758,000 |
$190 |
|
6 |
4 |
White House Down | Sony |
$13,500,000 |
-45.7% |
3,222 |
– |
$4,190 |
$50,478,000 |
$150 |
|
7 |
5 |
Man of Steel | WB |
$11,415,000 |
-45.0% |
2,905 |
-1,226 |
$3,929 |
$271,206,000 |
$225 |
|
8 |
N |
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain | LG/S |
$10,100,000 |
– |
876 |
– |
$11,530 |
$17,460,000 |
– |
|
9 |
6 |
This is the End | Sony |
$5,800,000 |
-33.3% |
2,104 |
-606 |
$2,757 |
$85,554,000 |
$32 |
|
10 |
7 |
Now You See Me | LG/S |
$2,770,000 |
-50.6% |
1,606 |
-958 |
$1,725 |
$110,415,000 |
$75 |
