“Despicable Me” overthrows Eclipse on box office
LOS ANGELES – “Despicable Me” tops weekend box office with an estimated $60.1 million.
“Despicable Me” is Universal Pictures’ first 3-D animation which stars Steve Carell as the voice actor of Gru, a clumsy villain who wants to steal the moon – until three charming girls became part of his life. Among the impressive voice cast are Jason Segel, Russell Brand and Julie Andrews.
Universal’s head of distribution, Nikki Rocco, said Sunday that “Despicable Me” exceeded the studio’s anticipation for opening weekend.
Rocco considers a number of factors worked in the movies’ good turn, which includes comedy for the kids and more mature humor and an affectionate story for adults. However, the tiny, yellow pill-shaped creatures that spew out nonsense and helped Gru accomplish his evil plans were attractive to both, and were a big part of the movie’s promotion.
Meanwhile, the week’s new movie release, “Predators”, grabbed $25.3 million to open at the third spot. A sort of sequel from the 1987 classic, “Predator”, which stars Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne set in another world full of alien hunters.
Last week’s number one, “The Twilight Sage: Eclipse” fell down one notch to number two with $33.35 million. The third installment of the popular vampire romance franchise has now $237 million under its belt for the first 12 days. “Eclipse” is predicted to exceed part two, “New Moon” that grossed $296.6 million last year.
It’s been a strong runs of weeks at the box office, particularly after a bumpy start from the previous summer movies such as “Shrek Forever After” and Sex and the City 2” that didn’t meet the expectations at the box office.
Next week will bring the movie “Inception”, an immensely anticipated film created by Christopher Nolan after the critically-acclaimed blockbuster “The Dark Knight” that was released on the similar weekend two years ago.
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