Box office report: 'Despicable Me 2' earns $142 million in five days

Box office report: 'Despicable Me 2' earns $142 million in five days

"The $76 million animated film from Universal and Illumination Entertainment crushed the competition in its first five days in theaters, earning a jaw-dropping $142 million — $82.5 million of which came in during the traditional Friday-to-Sunday frame. In fact, Despicable Me 2, which features the voice work of Steve Carrell and Kristen Wiig, led the box office to the best July 4th weekend of all time.

Despicable Me 2 earned an “A” CinemaScore grade from audiences. Internationally, Despicable Me 2 topped the box office in 36 of the 38 countries it played in this weekend.

It was a very different story for Disney’s $225 million western The Lone Ranger, which only lassoed a dismal $48.9 million — $29.4 million of which poured in during the Friday-to-Sunday period. The film, which stars Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, joins Cowboys and Aliens and Wild Wild West as films that attempted (unsuccessfully) to turn the western genre into widely-appealing, popcorn-munching spectacles.

In eighth place, Lionsgate’s comedy Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain grossed a remarkable $17.5 million from just 786 theaters over its first five days. Of that, $10.1 million came in over the three-day period, which is even more impressive given the film’s teensy $2.5 million budget."