Movies

‘Despicable Me 2’ Trumps ‘Lone Ranger’ at 4th of July Weekend Box Office

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 & AliensWild, 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):

TW

LW

Title (click to view)

Studio

Weekend Gross

% Change

Theater Count / Change

Average

 Total Gross

Budget*

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

 

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