Our Plugged In blog will be undergoing a bit o’ work on Monday morning. Our intrepid blog experts tell me that everything should be back to normal sometime Tuesday morning. Or, at least, that’s what I think they told me. They’re bespectacled yellow creatures that mumble quite a bit, so they’re a little difficult to understand.
But never fear. Knowing that you, dear reader, are all aquiver to learn what movie won the weekend’s box office derby, and understanding that you’re loathe to search for the information elsewhere online, I, your faithful Plugged In reviewer, have decided to post our normal “Movie Monday” feature a day early–both in my earnest desire to keep you informed, but also to write perhaps the longest sentence ever posted on this blog (a sentence that would, admittedly, never have been possible had this post been published on Monday, given the fact that my editor would’ve certainly forced me to put a period or two in here somewhere).
But you are not here to read long sentences. You are here to learn that Despicable Me 2, Universal’s quirky animated sequel, claimed the box office crown for the second straight week, collecting an estimated $44.8 million. In just 12 days of release, Despicable has earned $229.2 million–within shouting distance of another animated sequel, Pixar’s Monsters University ($237.8 million) to become the year’s third most lucrative movie.
Another sequel, Grown Ups 2, snagged second place this weekend. Though it was almost universally loathed by critics (it’s “freshness” rating on rottentomatoes.com sits at a very stale 7%), the Adam Sandler comedy pocketed $42.5 million and nearly toppled Gru and his minions from the top spot.
All of this comedic action up top left the CGI spectacle Pacific Rim in a place never imagined by its backers at Warner Brothers: third. Despite an estimated $190 million budget (and way better reviews than Grown Ups 2), Pacific earned a relatively paltry $38.3 million, making it the second big-budget bomb in as many weeks.
Speaking of which, The Lone Ranger barely clung to a Top 5 spot this week. It collected $11.1 million–about $3 million behind the fourth-place, R-rated comedy The Heat ($14 million).
Final figures update: 1. Despicable Me 2, $43.9 million; 2. Grown Ups 2, $41.5 million; 3. Pacific Rim, $37.3 million; 4. The Heat, $14 million, 5. The Lone Ranger, $11.5 million.
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