The big box office story this weekend was actually still Despicable Me 2, which topped again by bringing in another $44 million and has almost surpassed Monsters University's domestic gross ($237 million) in just two weeks. It's a massive hit, and is about to overtake Monsters' international haul too, with $474 million so far. The new releases split good news and bad, with the critically savaged Grown Ups 2 scoring second place with $42 million, and on track to be Adam Sandler's 14th $100 million grosser (although the audience gave it a mediocre "B" CinemaScore, so it may not hold up), and Pacific Rim managed $38 million for third. It's not a wildly impressive debut, since the movie cost $190 million, and proved to be somewhat frontloaded (decreasing in its daily gross from Friday through Sunday). Still, it's the biggest opening of Guillermo del Toro's career, and good word of mouth ("A-" from crowds) could it help it maintain itself through the rest of the summer, with no other blockbuster releases on the horizon.
TOP 5:
- Despicable Me 2- $44.8 million
- Grown Ups 2- $42 million
- Pacific Rim- $38.3 million
- The Heat- $14 million
- The Lone Ranger- $11.3 million
The holdovers are doing as expected, with The Heat holding up well and crossing $100 million this week, while The Lone Ranger plummeted 62% since the 4th of July. And in limited release news, Fruitvale Station earned an impressive $377,000 from just 7 screens, which gives it a high per screen average of $54,000. It's the first potential Oscar movie of the year, and in light of the recent Trayvon Martin ruling, its topicality has just exploded. Expect to see it get much more attention in the coming weeks.
