'Despicable Me 2' Zaps Away Disney's 'Lone Ranger' Bomb-Here's Your Box-Office Roundup

Kirsten AcunaJul 8, 2013, 19:21 IST

Disney / UniversalAs expected, "The Lone Ranger" bombed at theaters over the holiday weekend. Originally, analysts pegged the Western to bring in around $60-$70 million over the course of five days. Johnny Depp's big-budget film didn't manage to earn half of that. With $29 million, the film earned slightly less in three days than last year's big-budget bust "John Carter ($30.2 million). So it was little surprise Steve Carell and the little yellow minions of "Despicable Me 2" rocketed past Disney's long-delayed and troubled blockbuster. The sequel to Universal's 2010 film performed better than expected, easily having one of the highest-grossing opening weekends for an animated film. In five days, the despicable minions earned more than 2010's "Toy Story 3" in the same time frame. Another weekend shocker was the success of Kevin Hart's comedy "Let Me Explain." which is now the fifth highest-grossing stand-up to date. Also worth mentioning is the performance of Fox Searchlight's "The Way, Way Back" also starring Carell earned $575,000 in 19 theaters upon its debut. Out of the top ten this include "Star Trek Into Darkness" after eight weeks. J.J. Abrams sequel has earned a worldwide total of $443.9 million. "Fast & Furious 6" also drops four spots in its seventh week in theaters. The sequel should hit $700 million worldwide this week. Here are this week's winners and losers in Hollywood: 10. Lionsgate and Summit's magic movie "Now You See Me" stays in the top ten earning $2.8 million. The unexpected hit featuring a plethora of talent from Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson to Morgan Freeman has earned $169.5 million at theaters. 9. Seth Rogan's apocalyptic comedy "This is the End" drops three spots earning $5.8 million in week four. Made on an estimated $32 million budget, the Sony/Columbia picture has earned more than $90 million at theaters. 8. Kevin Hart's second turn at a stand-up comedy film, "Let Me Explain" was another hit for Summit this weekend earning $17.5 million. It's now the fifth highest-grossing stand-up film ahead of his 2011 film. At the least, it should pass the gross of Martin Lawrence's 2002 stand-up which earned $19.2 million at theaters. 7. "Man of Steel" drops two spots and 45% at theaters this week earning $11.4 million. In its fourth week, the reboot, which cost Warner Bros. an estimated $225 million, has earned $586.8 million at theaters. 6. "White House Down" may have only dipped two spots at theaters in week two with $13.5 million, but the Channing Tatum action flick will need much more than that if it wants to hit its estimated $150 million production budget. The film isn't performing well overseas with foreign sales only accounting for little more than 35% of its $67.9 million box-office earnings. For what it's worth, at the same point, similar film "Olympus Has Fallen" was only narrowly ahead of Tatum's film with a domestic gross of $55 million. 5. Instead, even Brad Pitt's zombie thriller "World War Z" earned more than Tatum's thriller with $18.2 million in its third week. The film, which had production delays and saw its production budget raise to north of $200 million, according to a Vanity Fair cover article, is doing well at theaters. "WWZ" has earned $366.2 million worldwide. 4. With another animated feature out, "Monsters University" fell 57% this week earning $19.6 million in its third week. The prequel to the 2001 movie has earned $400.5 million at theaters. 3. The dynamic combination of Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in "The Heat" continues its monster performance in week two earning $25 million. The film, which cost an estimated $43 million to produce has brought in $93 million for Fox in two weeks. 2. "The Lone Ranger" may have came in second overall at the box office this weekend, but it was a big hit for Disney with only $29.4 million over the course of three days. Over the long holiday weekend, the film earned $48.9 million domestically, far short of the projected $70 million analysts expected. So far, the $215+ million dollar film has earned $73.2 million worldwide. 1. It was a despicably awesome weekend for Universal's yellow minions. The return of the funny little yellow characters in "Despicable Me 2" earned more than the opening of "Monsters University" with $82.5 million. Worldwide, the film has already earned $293.2 million. It should surpass the worldwide total of Pixar's film in no time. All this on an estimated budget of $76 million — low for an animated feature.

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'Despicable Me 2' Zaps Away Disney's 'Lone Ranger' Bomb-Here's Your Box-Office Roundup