Weekend Estimates: Despicable is a Delight for Universal

July 11, 2010

The long wait for an out and out hit is over for Universal this weekend, thanks to a great opening weekend for Despicable Me. The kids comedy had been getting good reviews, and benefited from a great marketing campaign, but was going head-to-head with Toy Story 3, and had to fight for every screen (2D and 3D) that it played on. So the studio will be delighted with its estimated $60.1 million opening. With good word-of-mouth, the film can set its sights on $200 million, and strong video revenues to come. With a production budget of $69 million, the studio will be reaping big profits on this one.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse enjoyed a good second weekend in theaters, falling under 50% to $33.35 million to take its 12 day total to $237 million. New Moon earned $42 million in its second weekend, so Eclipse does look as though it will struggle to match the total box office of its predecessor. Summit will hardly be disappointed at its showing so far, though.

The weekend's other new wide release also performed well, as Predators posted a $25.3 million opening weekend. With a budget of just $40 million, this is another movie that should end up safely in the black.

The best hold in the top ten was, perhaps surprisingly, Grown Ups with $16.4 million (down just 14% from the long weekend), while Cyrus entered the top ten for the first time with $1.375 million from just 200 theaters.

The Girl Who Played with Fire just missed the top ten for Music Box Films, earning $965,000 in 110 theaters. The movie has now topped $2 million domestically, including a Canadian run that started in December last year.

In limited release, The Kids Are All Right had a fantastic opening in seven theaters for Focus Features, earning an estimated $504,888 for a per theater average of over $70,000. That's the second highest per theater average for a Summer Season debut ever, behind the first two weekends of Moulin Rouge back in 2001.

- Weekend Estimates
- Friday Estimates
- Saturday Estimates
- Sunday Projections

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Despicable Me, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Grown Ups, Flickan som lekte med elden, Predators, Cyrus, The Kids Are All Right