0
Posted July 8, 2013 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: Despicable Me 2 Sends The Lone Ranger Packing

Sharing Tuesday openings, it seems strange to think one movie would take the weekend in such a lopsided victory, but it has. Despicable Me 2 opened against The Lone Ranger, and the CG animated family film made its competitor look absolutely flummoxed. While both films took the first and second box office spots respectively, Despicable Me 2’s estimated $82.5 million adds to a domestic total of $142.1 million picked up over the week, while The Lone Ranger, critically panned for its length and other troubles, is making After Earth look good; while it had a better first weekend than After Earth (estimated $29.4 million to After Earth’s $27.5 million), it also has a $215 million budget to make up, and with a worldwide total take of $73.2 million, it may prove to be an even bigger bomb.

Despicable Me 2The Heat and Monsters University still draw a consistent crowd, with The Heat picking up an estimated $25 million to an already profitable total, while Monsters University with its estimated $19.6 million adds to a $215 million domestic total…and if its rumored $270 million price tag is to be believed, it is not far from domestic success (and one of the top ten grossing films of the year). World War Z appears to be doing well for itself too, and if it fails to make back its $190 million costs, its estimated $18.2 million is making sure that margin is as low as possible.

White House Down appears to be heading the way of The Lone Ranger, as its estimated $13.5 million brings its domestic totals to $50.5 million, a very long way from its $150 million costs. Man of Steel has proven pretty critic proof, however, its weekend estimate of $11.4 million not only keeping it profitable, but bringing the DC Comics hero enough legitimacy to give competitor Marvel Comics something to worry about.

This is the End and Now You See Me fell to ninth and tenth behind another newcomer, the stand-up comedy special Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain. With an estimated $10.1 million (along with an additional $7 million from its Tuesday release), it has become the fifth highest earning comedy special released to theaters, and spells good for the comedian, as his previous special made less than half that amount in its entire theatrical run. Not to say it is putting This is the End (estimated $5.8 million) or Now You See Me (estimated $2.8 million) to shame; both films have become very successful ventures, and both are the longest standing veterans on the list, next to Man of Steel.

[springboard type=”video” id=”726491″ player=”cnim002″ width=”560″ height=”315″ ]

Weekend Box Office (July 3rd – July 7th)

  1. Despicable Me 2…$82.5 million
  2. The Lone Ranger…$29.4 million
  3. The Heat…$25 million
  4. Monsters University…$19.6 million
  5. World War Z…$18.2 million
  6. White House Down…$13.5 million
  7. Man of Steel…$11.4 million
  8. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain…$10.1 million
  9. This is the End…$5.8 million
  10. Now You See Me…$2.8 million
Seth Paul

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."