Weekend Box Office Report: July 12-14, 2013

Twice as Despicable!

The big question this week seemed to be whether director Guillermo del Toro's robots-versus-monsters epic PACIFIC RIM could overcome Adam Sandler's second buddy reunion GROWN UPS 2.

As it turned out, neither new release packed enough punch to knock Gru and his crew from the top — DESPICABLE ME 2 ruled the box office for a second weekend with another $44.7 million.

The Steve Carell-voiced 3D CG sequel is up to $229.2 million domestically after just 12 days in theaters and is a worldwide sensation with $472.4 million globally, on track to even outpace the first movie's $543.1 million finish (it also appears likely to surpass Pixar's latest release as well).

Sandler and his chums weren't far behind, as the PG-13 comedy sequel GROWN UPS 2 came in second with $42.5 million. That opening is a tiny bit higher than the first GROWN UPS, which opened in 2010 with $40.5 million (and somehow went on to $162M).

GROWN UPS 2 also marks the biggest opening for Sandler since 2005's THE LONGEST YARD ($47.6 million), not counting the recent Sandler-voiced CG-toon HOTEL TRANSYVLANIA (also $42.5 million). The sequel (Sandler's first) got an unexceptional 'B' CinemaScore from paying audiences, but as usual for Sandler's movies, it got pasted by critics with a miserable 7% average on Rotten Tomatoes.

In third place was the futuristic rumble PACIFIC RIM with $38.3 million. One of the summer's rare offerings that's not a sequel, prequel, based on an existing property or fronted by an A-list star, the expensive sci-fi clash of metal and beast was alternately seen as a symbol of hope for original material and the target of speculation over disappointing early tracking reports. Ultimately, audiences and critics alike enjoyed the smash-em-up (an 'A-' CinemaScore and currently 71% on Rotten Tomatoes), and the monster-buster has also made an additional $53 million overseas.

Coming in fourth was the resilient R-rated buddy-cop comedy THE HEAT with $14 million, burning past the $100 million mark in its third weekend of release. In fifth place was Johnny Depp's exorbitant vanity project THE LONE RANGER with $11.1 million. With just $119.1 million worldwide, the almost universally chastised Western looks to be a costly fiasco for Disney and could indicate some fractures in Depp's former global glory (we'll see with next year's TRANCENDENCE and INTO THE WOODS, or 2015's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 5).

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY leads the bottom half of the chart with $10.6 million; Pixar's prequel has also squeaked past the domestic total of last summer's BRAVE ($237 million), and is likely to get up to the original MONSTERS INC.'s $255 million. Brad Pitt's zompocalypse WORLD WAR Z was right behind with another $9.4 million, followed by Channing Tatum's underperforming actioner WHITE HOUSE DOWN.

The stand-up routine KEVIN HART: LET ME EXPLAIN is still performing strong on less than a thousand screens, and MAN OF STEEL is preparing to make his exit from the Top 10, but has racked up nearly $600 million worldwide. THIS IS THE END and NOW YOU SEE ME excused themselves to make room on the list for the week's big new releases.

Next weekend is one of the summer's most crowded: Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds battle ghosts in R.I.P.D., Reynolds voices the speedy CG snail in the Dreamworks 'toon TURBO, Bruce Wills and his fellow senior spies return in RED 2, director James Wan provides more chills in the supernatural creeper THE CONJURING, and Ryan Gosling wants to fight in ONLY GOD FORGIVES.

What movie do you think will be #1 at the box office next weekend? VOTE HERE!