2013 seems to be shaping up as the year of the anti-summer blockbuster. Yet another $200 million feature (Warner Bros. Pictures' Pacific Rim) fell by the wayside this weekend, as Universal's animated Despicable Me 2 finished #1 domestically for the second week in a row. It was close: Sony's Grown Ups 2 opened strong, placing second overall with a better-than-expected $42.5 bow. Pacific Rim ($38.3 million) finished third. Total box office totals were up more than 20% over last year.
Despicable Me 2 added $44.8 million to its already impressive two-week worldwide haul of $472.4 million. Meanwhile, Grown Ups 2 managed to recoup more than half of its purported $80 million budget in its first three days: That's in spite of a current 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Most of Hollywood was surprised that Pacific Rim didn't take top honors, despite positive reviews (not including DC Outlook) and plenty of marketing. Not all news was bad however: Pacific Rim earned $53 million across 38 other countries (not including China and Japan.) Whether or not it breaks even, remains to be seen: I'm betting it does.
Last week's #2 The Lone Ranger dropped a startling 61% in its second week, placing fifth ($11.1M) behind 20th Century Fox's The Heat ($14M) which passed the century mark domestically ($112.3M in its third week.) Disney's dud may go down as one of this year's biggest flops.
The top 10 films for this weekend...
1. Despicable Me 2 $44.8M
2. Grown Ups 2 $42.5M
3. Pacific Rim $38.3M
4. The Heat $14M
5. The Lone Ranger $11.1M
6. Monsters University $10.6M
7. World War Z $9.4M
8. White House Down $6.2M
9. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain $5M
10. Man of Steel $4.8M
