Despicable Me 2 *Cheesy Puns The Lone Ranger To #1 [Weekend Box Office]

Hey guys, I’m back from vacation and a serious writing deadline. Please, please hold your applause until the end.

Despicable Me 2 *outgunned The Lone Ranger at the domestic box office over the 4th of July weekend with an impressive total of $142M.

Not only did it nearly triple Ranger’s $48M opening, but it did it with a third of the production budget ($76M versus $215M).

I guess America just isn’t ready to accept a chiseled caucasian lead and a racial caricature as his sidekick yet.

For shame America. For shame.

I didn’t see, nor care about either because I don’t have children and my functioning cerebral cortex wouldn’t allow me to sit through Johnny Depp mugging for two hours – no matter how cool that dead crow on his head looks.

Don’t let your eyes, brain, intuition or common sense fool you, this is awesome:

If you were one of the many who gave Despicable Me 2 a CinemaScore “A” grade you’re in luck because its cumulative gross of $293M world wide means there will most certainly be a third installment.

If you were one of the few who awarded The Lone Ranger a surprisingly high “B+” then I suggest heavy, dedicated prayer for a second.

Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock’s buddy cop fiasco The Heat falls into third place with an estimated $25M.

With a total of $86M, McCarthy’s second starring turn this year will easily clear the $100 mark.

No one I know who saw Identity Thief seemed to like it but everyone agrees, McCarthy is HIGHlarious. Funny how that works.

I actually bought tickets to this one but opted at the last minute to go to Stout Burger in Hollywood instead.

I’m sure McCarthy and Bullock are a fine team but they can’t compete with a Six Weeker and an Allagash Curieux. No one can.

Monsters University, Pixar’s newest float in the “Dammit, Stop Making Sequels And Focus On Originals” parade, dropped 57% from last week to around $20M or so.

It doesn’t appear as though it’s going to reach the coveted $300M mark in the US but since it’s already pulled in a global total of $400M, Disney’s not sweating too hard.

Dearest Pixar, I know sequels are a guaranteed success that play well in the foreign market and sell billions in merchandise but please, please give us something new.

Either the Earth is still enamored with zombies or Brad Pitt trying to kill them because World War Z, a movie with virtually no story and certainly no ending, scared up another $18M.

I don’t get you people.

From Box Office Mojo