After all the handwringing over box office performance this week, everything played out just like everyone expected it would. With one little, yellow twist.
Despicable Me 2 managed to beat out the newcomers with $44.7M. That adds to a pile of almost $500M worldwide that’s almost certainly being stacked in the shape of a 3. Meanwhile, Grown Ups 2 came in second with $42.5M, and Pacific Rim opened with $38.3M domestically (and $91.3M worldwide). So, as expected, the animated sequel with 1/3 less heart dominated, the close-to-comedy sequel with telephonic celebrities did strongly against its budget, and the big gamble original monster movie with zero name-stars and one-note advertising that made it look like a Transformers rip-off didn’t win.
On the limited release front, Fruitvale Station did fine for itself with $377,000 from 7 theaters. [Box Office Mojo]