If there was a silver bullet shot this weekend, it was by the Minions.
Universal’s animated sequel “Despicable Me 2” ruled the box office this week, grossing $82.5 million for the weekend and a whopping $142.1 million for the biggest five-day holiday gross ever. Tonto (Johnny Depp) and his faithful sidekick (Armie Hammer) brought in $29.4 million to come in second, but it only earned it flop status for a film rumored to have cost over $225 million to make.
Coming in at third was the Melissa McCarthy/Sandra Bullock cop comedy “The Heat” with $25 million. Rounding out the top 5 was the animated prequel “Monster’s University with $19.6 million and the Brad Pitt zombie thriller “World War Z” with 18.2 million.
Kevin Hart’s stand-up comedy is having film execs laughing all the way to the bank. Despite being on a mere 876 theaters (compared to 3904 for “The Lone Ranger), the film managed to bring in $17.3 million. With a loyal fanbase and a strong social media presence, Lionsgate may have something of a mini-franchise on it’s hands.
