Universal’s minions ran away with the box office for the second week in a row.
With $44.8 million in domestic ticket sales Friday through Sunday, the animated sequel “Despicable Me 2” outdid the debuts of the Adam Sandler comedy “Grown Ups 2” and director Guillermo del Toro’s monsters-versus-robots action flick “Pacific Rim.”
The weekend’s No. 1 movie featuring Steve Carell as ex-supervillain Gru made another $55.5 million overseas. That brought its global two-week total to $472.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
“This has become the July film to beat right now,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking division of Hollywood.com. “There’s something about the minions that audiences just love.”
Sony was pleased with Sandler’s second-best movie opening of his career with $42.5 million in sales in the U.S. and Canada (His best domestic opening was “The Longest Yard” from 2005 with $58.6 million over four days). Overseas, the comedy brought in $1.7 million.
The movie brings together former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal as a bumbling police officer with a host of comedy All-Stars including Chris Rock and David Spade playing awkward parents.
The third-place finish of “Pacific Rim,” with $38.3 million in receipts, represented a disappointing start domestically for Warner Bros. and partner Legendary Entertainment. Figures released by the studio showed it doing better overseas.
The movie took in $53 million from 38 markets outside the U.S. and Canada, representing about half its overseas footprint. It has yet to open in China or Japan, the home of the movie’s co-star, Rinko Kikuchi.
Warner Bros. said the debut of “Pacific Rim” in several countries such as Russia and South Korea was better than that other films that have gone on to gross more than $300 million internationally, like “Transformers 2” and “Prometheus.”
The movie had an estimated production budget of $185 million, not including the millions spent on marketing, so there is still the opportunity for it to make its money back.
Fizziology, a company that tracks buzz on social networks like Twitter and Facebook, said that 82 percent of posts on “Pacific Rim” were positive ahead of the opening, with only 6 percent negative as some people drew negative comparisons to the “Power Rangers” or “Godzilla.” The film draws heavily on Japan’s “Kaiju” movie monster tradition.
Fizziology President Ben Carlson said the appeal of “Pacific Rim” to 3-D moviegoers and the fact it is one of the most-hyped films of the summer could help it with Asian audiences, he said.
“This movie’s really pre-wired to do well in those territories,” he said.
Disney’s “The Lone Ranger,” starring Johnny Depp as Tonto, took in $11.1 million domestically in its second week, falling into fifth place behind “The Heat” starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, which brought in another $14 million in its third week.
Stock market analysts predict Disney to book a big loss on the film.
The film was temporarily halted in July 2011 to rein in its budget, but production expenses alone are estimated to have exceeded $200 million. So far, it has pulled in just $119.1 million worldwide, roughly half of which is kept by theater owners. Eric Wold, an analyst with investment bank B. Riley & Co. pegged Disney’s possible loss on the film at about $100 million.
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
1. “Despicable Me 2,” $44.8 million. ($55.5 million international).
2. “Grown Ups 2,” $42.5 million. ($1.7 million international).
3. “Pacific Rim,” $38.3 million. ($53 million international).
4. “The Heat,” $14 million. ($8.1 million international).
5. “The Lone Ranger,” $11.1 million. ($12.7 million international).
6. “Monsters University,”$10.6 million. ($30.2 million international).
7. “World War Z,” $9.4 million. ($22.4 million international).
8. “White House Down,” $6.2 million. (41.8 million international).
9. “Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain,” $5 million.
10. “Man of Steel,” $4.8 million. ($13.3 million international).
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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. “Despicable Me 2,” $55.5 million.
2. “Pacific Rim,”$53 million.
3. “Monsters University,” $30.2 million.
4. “World War Z,” $22.4 million.
5. “After Earth,” $13.7 million.
6. “Man of Steel,” $13.3 million.
7. “The Lone Ranger,” $12.7 million.
8. “The Heat,” $8.1 million.
9. “Cold Eyes,” $7.5 million.
10. “Now You See Me,” $6.3 million.
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
“Andor” Returns; Series Creator Tony Gilroy Takes “Star Wars” To New, Rebellious Places
"Andor" returns for its second season on Disney+ with a three-episode premiere Tuesday and the weight of the "Star Wars" galaxy seemingly on its shoulders.
But creator Tony Gilroy says he and his collaborators felt little pressure from Disney and Lucasfilm as they sought to tell the story of a growing revolutionary resentment against the Galactic Empire and the birth of the Rebel Alliance leading up to the events of the 2016 film he scripted, "Rogue One."
"We took no creative notes on this show," Gilroy, whose deep screenwriting resume also includes four films in the "Bourne" franchise and 2007 Oscar nominee "Michael Clayton," which he also directed. He said that "I've never had this much freedom before, even in final-cut films that I worked on. The latitude was astonishing."
The forthcoming season, whose production was delayed by Hollywood's 2023 strikes, are coming with high expectations from fans who have been disappointed in other recent "Star Wars" TV offerings, with no new movies released in the franchise in six years.
Revolution through the eyes of regular people
The new episodes trace how the spark lit in Diego Luna's Cassian Andor in the 2022 first season spreads through the galaxy. And they do it with characters and arcs rarely found in this realm before.
"This second season, it's about all the layers, and the social and political climate that needs to happen for a revolution to erupt, for a rebellion to exist," Luna said. "The universe of 'Star Wars' never stopped to tell the story of these regular people that becomes crucial for the history that we know."
Gilroy drew inspiration from a broad range of historical and fictional sources.
"Who's ever going to get another chance to do another 1,500... Read More