Despicable Me 2 opens to massive numbers during the Fourth of July weekend, as Johnny Depp’s The Lone Ranger bombs during its five day opening.
The animated sequel had a massive opening, and will continue to rake in impressive box office numbers as it received great reviews and one incredible opening weekend.
The Lone Ranger may be the bigger story this weekend despite opening at the #2 spot. Disney isn’t happy about its Fourth of July film, with a monster budget of $250M.
The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer certainly slipped off of its saddle and couldn’t even break $50 million domestically since its opening on July 3.
The Lone Ranger pulled in $24.3M in foreign markets, which is where Disney is most likely hoping to make back the majority of its monster budget. The Lone Ranger remake ended up with a total of $73.2M worldwide, after its five day opening.
The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy continued to do well, pulling in just over $25 million. With a budget of only $43 million, The Heat has enjoyed fairly decent reviews, which should lead to it having another couple solid weeks at the box office.
Monsters University, which opened at #1 with $82 million at the domestic box office two weeks ago continues to do well, pulling in $19.5M, bringing its worldwide total to just over $400M. It came in fourth this weekend, and should end up in the $550-$600M dollar range when it’s all said and done.
Despicable Me 2 was the big winner this weekend, and we expect it to continue doing well as the first film had a worldwide total of $543M. With 3D now a factor, we imagine the sequel will end up pulling in close to $650M or more.
The Lone Ranger is what will be talked about in the coming weeks though, as Disney will most likely be looking at writing off $200 million or more after the dust settles.