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Posted July 15, 2013 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: Despicable Me Stays Ahead of Robots and Sandler

Once again the box office has proven that keeping a film’s budget reasonable is a good idea, whether the movie is well-received or not. Despicable Me 2 held the top spot for a second week, making an estimated $44.8 million and holding off newcomers Grown-Ups 2 (estimated $42.5 million) and Pacific Rim (estimated $38.3 million). Grown-Ups 2 has been almost universally panned by critics, and still has a lot of ground to make up to cover the actors’ paychecks, as the comedy cost $80 million to make. Pacific Rim has received much better reviews, but suffers from a much harder to make up $190 million budget.

Despicable Me 2The Heat enters its third week with an estimated $14 million, but with a domestic total of $112.4 million it certainly has done quite well…a total that The Lone Ranger wishes it had, as its estimated $11.1 million still leaves it far, far short of its $215 million costs. Even counting worldwide gross, the western-comedy-actioner has made back only half its costs, making it an even bigger disappointment than After Earth, whose worldwide gross at least made it mildly profitable.

Monsters University and its estimated $10.6 million had come up with a very strong domestic total of $237.8 million, and as its unreported budget numbers led to speculation on to how much the film actually cost (the now current estimate is around $200 million), counting worldwide gross the film is a success. World War Z and its estimated $9.4 million is also quite impressive; while it may fall short of domestic success, the film has made $423.1 million worldwide, meaning against its $190 million costs it is certainly no flop. White House Down, on the other hand, will likely fall well short of its goals, its estimated $6.2 million leaving it with only $63 million to show against $150 million costs, and its worldwide take is not helping it all that much.

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Finally, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain moved up to be the fourth highest grossing stand-up theatrical special, earning an estimated $5 million and $26.4 million overall. No slouch either is Man of Steel, its estimated $4.8 million bringing its domestic totals to $281 million; as of right now, this makes it the second highest grossing domestic film released in 2013, second only to Marvel rival Iron Man 3.

Weekend Box Office (July 13th – July 14th)

  1. Despicable Me 2…$44.8 million
  2. Grown-Ups 2…$42.5 million
  3. Pacific Rim…$38.3 million
  4. The Heat…$14 million
  5. The Lone Ranger…$11.1 million
  6. Monsters University…$10.6 million
  7. World War Z…$9.4 million
  8. White House Down…$6.2 million
  9. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain…$5 million
  10. Man of Steel…$4.8 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."