This weekend, we saw two new releases, both vying for the top spot against the juggernaut of Despicable Me 2. One was Pacific Rim, the big budget, giant robots vs enormous monsters special effects extravaganza. The other was Grown Ups 2 and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that that film even exists, a feeling only validated by the incredibly awful seven percent at Rotten Tomatoes. Nonetheless, this despicable film somehow gave Gru a close run for his money, while Pacific Rim almost got lost in the shuffle.

Despicable Me 2

Despite some stiff competition, DM2 managed a second weekend atop the box office charts with $44.8 million. It fell an okay 46%. I thought it might hold a little bitter, but the film has still amassed a huge $229 million through just two weekends and it will have long surpassed Monsters University by the end of the next weekend. Looking at its current trajectory, I think it should finish somewhere right around $300 million.

I want to offer Grown Ups 2 as little attention as possible, so let me breeze through this: $42.5 million opening. Slightly better than its predecessor. Should be more front-loaded as a sequel. Maybe end up around $120 million. Very depressing. Why do people see these movies?

Opening in third, Pacific Rim pulled in $38.3 million. Predictions for this one had a pretty big range, but $38 million is pretty much right in line. It’s a good, but not spectacular start. Word of mouth seems to be fairly strong, so decent legs could await the Del Toro picture. Even still, we’re probably looking at an absolute best scenario of $150 million stateside, which wouldn’t come close to the $190 million budget. The goods news is that PR is basically guaranteed to do killer numbers overseas, particularly in Asian markets. Just look at Real Steel, which made $85 million domestic, but over $200 million overseas. In the end, I think Pacific Rim will be okay.

Way back from the big top three films, The Heat fell 44% to fourth place and $14 million, lifting its total to $112 million. While The Heat has a been success, The Lone Ranger has been a bomb. Collapsing 62% from a weak debut as it was, TLR made $11.1 million this weekend and lifted its awful total up to $71 million. Unlike Pacific Rim, this is a film unlikely to get bailed out overseas and will go down as one of the year’s biggest flops.

Down 46%, Monsters University grossed $10.6 million and lifted its total to $237.8 million. Mike and Sully should end up around $260 million. On a side-note, I highly recommend giving this article a read. It posits a theory that all Pixar movies take place in the same universe. It’s very well-researched and makes an almost disturbing amount of sense when you think about it.

World War Z slid 49% to $9.4 million. Its legs haven’t been great, but $177 million is a far better total than most, including myself, ever thought this would hit. Next up is the disappointing, White House Down, which fell 54% to $6.1 million and has grossed just $63 million so far. Ninth place went to Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, down 50% for a weekend gross of $5 million. $26.4 million is very good for the low-budget film.

Spending a final weekend in the top ten, Man of Steel dropped 58% to $4.8 million. With $281 million in the bank, it should finish with about $290 million. After its debut, I never would’ve thought it would fail to hit $300 million, but audience reception ended up just being mixed. It’ll be interesting to see how Warner Bros. handles its other DC Comics properties going forward. Anyway, that does it for next weekend. Next week, we see four new openers, none of which I think has a chance of breaking out, with the possible exception of Turbo. Until we meet again.