Pamela McClintock of THR:
Universal's "Despicable Me 2" nearly triples the dismal $48.9 million earned by the Johnny Depp Western, posting a dazzling five-day North American debut of $142.1 million.
Failing to fire off a silver bullet, Disney's The Lone Ranger posted a grim five-day debut of $48.9 million, far from enough to make up for the high cost of the Johnny Depp-Armie Hammer Western.
Conversely, Universal and Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me 2 dazzled, posting a five-day debut of $142.1 million -- one of the best showings of all time for an animated film and just ahead of what Toy Story 3 earned in its first five days. The sequel also helped to fuel one of the best July Fourth holiday stretches on record in terms of overall box-office revenue.
Overseas, Despicable 2 is also looking like a mega hit. The movie grossed $88.8 million from 45 markets over the weekend for an early international total of $151.1 million and worldwide cume of $293.2 million. The sequel placed No. 1 in 42 of the 45 countries.
Despite Depp's popularity at the international box office, Lone Ranger turned in a soft performance as it began rolling out overseas, grossing $29.4 million from 24 markets for a worldwide opening total of $78.3 million. Westerns have always been a tough sell with foreign audiences.
Coming in No. 3 in North America after Despicable 2 and Lone Ranger was 20th Century Fox's The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. The R-rated comedy held well in its second weekend, falling only 36 percent to $25 million for a stellar domestic total of $86.4 million.
Lone Ranger -- costing at least $250 million to produce -- marks the summer's third major disappointment after Will Smith tentpole After Earth and Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum's White House Down -- both Sony pics -- and is almost certain to pose a major financial headache for Disney. White House Down fell to No. 6 in its second weekend, falling 47 percent to $11.2 million for a domestic total of $50.1 million.
With Lone Ranger, Disney had hoped to whip up the same magic that producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Gore Verbinski and Depp created with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. In this latest film, Depp applies his penchant for playing quirky characters to the role of Tonto (Depp says he is part Native American), while Hammer plays the Lone Ranger.
At one point, before Verbinski began shooting, the plug was almost pulled on Lone Ranger because of budget concerns. The filmmakers agreed to bring the budget down to $215 million, but the price tag steadily rose once shooting began (all the stunts are real). Another issue is the film's lengthy running time of 149 minutes.
Despicable 2 is easily walking away with the glory, both domestically and internationally.
It's also smashing a number of records. In North America, the movie scored the second-highest Thursday gross in history behind Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($29.1 million). (That doesn't include films that opened on Thursday.) And on Wednesday, Universal's sequel scored the third-highest opening day for an animated feature behind Toy Story 3 and Shrek the Third (both those films opened on a Friday).
In the toon, Steve Carell returns to voice the role of Gru, master of the minions, while Kristen Wiig voices the role of Agent Lucy Wilde.
The third new entry of the July Fourth holiday frame was Summit Entertainment's stand-up comedy film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, which turned in a solid $17.4 million debut (it's only playing in 876 theaters). Summit succeeded in providing counter-programming for African-American audiences as well as comedy fans. The film, from Codeblack Films and HartBeat Productions, was shot live at New York's Madison Square Garden.
At the specialty box office, Fox Searchlight's The Way, Way Back got off to a strong start, grossing $575,000 from 19 theaters for a location average of $30,263, the best of the weekend. Opening Friday, the coming-of-age dramedy, produced by OddLot Entertainment, was directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash and stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney and Sam Rockwell.
Next Up: Guillermo del Toro sci-fi action epic "Pacific Rim" arrives promising more mayhem and chaos--with Pacific Rim 2 already in the works. Adam Sandler, Kevin James David Spade, Chris Rock and Rob Schneider reunite for the comedy sequel Grown Ups 2---taking on a group of frat boys led by David Henrie Taylor Lautner and Project X co-star Oliver Cooper
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