Oh man do I feel sorry for The Lone Ranger. The film was savaged by critics, its depiction of Tonto has been carefully scrutinized by our own Liz Rugg, and its box office fell far short of expectations. The weekly attrition on The Lone Ranger should be pretty painful, especially given the film’s $250 million budget. The question now is if the movie will be this year’s John Carter; at the very least, it’s the recent weekend’s White House Down.
(Sergio Leone could have made a better Western with $1 million. Hell, Sam Pekinpah could have made a better Western for $250,000 and a bathtub full of bootleg gin.)
Despicable Me 2 opened huge over the July 4th weekend, taking in more than $140 million. The Heat and Monsters University continue to hang near the top of the box office, and World War Z is inching closer to breaking even thanks to foreign ticket sales. Zero balance, thine name is China.
Check out full box office numbers after the cut.
[via Rentrak]1. Despicable Me 2 – $82,518,065 (Total July 4th weekend opening: $142,075,710)
2. The Lone Ranger – $29,432,000 (Total July 4th weekend opening: $48,936,000) *
3. The Heat – $25,000,000
4. Monsters University – $19,590,000
5. World War Z – $18,200,000
6. White House Down – $13,500,000
7. Man Of Steel – $11,415,000
8. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain – $10,100,000
9. This Is The End – $5,800,000
10. Now You See Me – $2,770,000
* According to IndieWire, Johnny Depp, Gore Verbinski, and Jerry Bruckheimer will reportedly not get paid for The Lone Ranger until the film breaks even. Zero balance, thine name is DVD and Blu-ray sales.
