The Weekend Report

Despicable Me 2 set a new box-office record with an estimated $83.1 million opening weekend. That left the frame’s other major debut The Lone Ranger, on the distant horizon with $29.4 million. And it was stand-up business of $9.9 million for Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain in his concert performance.

Among the limited/exclusive freshmen The Way, Way Back passed on the water chute to an excellent $558,000 launch at 19 vacation spots.

In the niches, Hindi Lootera nabbed $309,000 at 99 venues and Tamil masala Singam 2 was off to a solid start of $241,000 from 58 screens. Also  impressive was Four Sisters and a Wedding from the evolving Philippine circuit, which generated $519,000 from 41 sites.

Overall, there was much to celebrate and flag wave from the  holiday period that should provide about $240 million to industry coffers. That translated into a 21% boost from last weekend and a 17% upward lift from 2012. A year back, the chart-topper was the $62 million intro of The Amazing Spider-Man with Ted in the second slot with $32.2 million.

There was little doubt that Despicable Me 2 would lead the weekend as it continued to build momentum prior to the 4th of July. It grossed close to $60 million in the two days prior to the weekend, and its five-day $142.6 million tally set a new record for an animated film. The film unquestionably got a boost from its prior outing. DM2 drew a crowd that was 55% families with a ditto 55% of viewers aged 25-years and younger per studio exit demos. It also skewed 60% female.

The mad Minions got a head start last weekend in seven foreign climes and went wider this weekend internationally to gross an estimated $88 million and a foreign cume of $150 million.

The tom-toms weren’t nearly as positive for The Lone Ranger that entered the weekend fray with $19.5 million in its saddle bags. It didn’t help that the critical reception was generally withering, though few invoked an earlier, 1980 big screen transfer that was also a commercial misfire. A studio spokesman (obviously disappointed) said the film simply never tapped a younger audience with exit demos that identified 68% of the audience as 25 and up. It was also 57% male.

Internationally the masked avenger opened day-and-date in 24 international territories including Russia, Italy and Korea and grossed an estimated $24 million. Hi no Silver!

There was a positive surprise for Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain especially in light of the long absence of a comedy performance film in the marketplace. Even recent musical performance efforts have been relegated to one-shot events so expectations were set low in the $5 million to $7 million range.

The saga of session vocalists, 20 Feet from Stardom, has been steadily expanding to good results with the current weekend backing up a propulsive $500,000.

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