Gru and his minions took over the world this past weekend—at least with box office earnings. Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me 2 earned an impressive $82.5 million in the U.S. over the weekend and an estimated $142 million since its U.S. debut on July 3. For comparison, the original Despicable Me earned $56.4 million in its opening weekend in 2010.
Despicable Me 2 also continued to rake in the cash internationally by grossing another $88.8 million over the weekend in 45 international markets. According to Box Office Mojo, the film debuted in first place in Mexico ($15.8 million), Brazil ($6.7 million), Germany ($6.2 million) and Spain ($3.3 million) and in second place in France ($7 million). So far, international earnings for the film are at $151 million.
And the prospects continue to look good for the film. The fun marketing campaign should continue to get people to the theater. Having received a CinemaScore rating of “A”, word of mouth should remain positive as well. Box Office Mojo quoted Universal Pictures in saying that “the movie is currently performing twice as strong as the original Despicable Me across the same bucket of territories. That movie earned over $291 million overseas, which suggests Despicable Me 2 could ultimately wind up around $500 million.”
Congratulations to directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud and the entire Despicable Me 2 team on the great success of your film!
Source: Box Office Mojo
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