The box office results for the weekend of July 5th – 7th provided a healthy assist for most of the top ten films coming off the Fourth of July holiday. Universal’s Despicable Me 2 won the battle of the newbies as Disney’s The Lone Ranger couldn’t keep pace. Here are the studio estimates:

1. Despicable Me 2 ($82.5 million)

10. Now You See Me ($2.7 million)

Analysis

Since opening on Wednesday, The Lone Ranger has posted a 5-day total of just over $50 million (that noise you hear are the producers and studio crying). Saddled with production issues and costing $250 million to create, this is a major Flopper for House of Mouse. When tacking on marketing/promo costs that hit a reported $125 million, don’t expect a sequel unless international audiences choose to ignore the American critics and moviegoers – who are giving this a big BOO!

Also opening on Wednesday before the 4th, Despicable Me 2 continues the trend of Universal Pictures finding financial success in 2013. The 3D animation rang up a moderately tame production bill of $76 million and its respective accountants are already using the black ink on the balance sheet since it posted an outstanding 5-day total of $142.1 million. With the first installment performing well overseas back in 2010, expect this sequel to soar even higher.

Showing that he can play with the big boys, stand-up comedian Kevin Hart quietly entered the summer party with his self-titled, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain. The Madison Square Garden comedy show crept in and over-achieved ($17.4 million 5-day total) when considering it opened in a modest 876 theaters across the U.S. While cinematic comedy shows tend to leave theaters quickly due to being front-loaded, this one could linger and play as a nice alternative for moviegoers that are not amused with the current batch of produced comedies.

Now You See Me currently holds the longest streak in the top ten with 6 weeks. The comedic-caper is now up to $110.4 million domestically.

The Heat dropped just 36% from its opening weekend and is looking to stay entrenched in the top ten throughout July. Its domestic total has jumped to $86.3 million off a production budget of $43 million.

Man of Steel has risen to $271.2 million after 4 weeks of release. Warner Bros. has begun diminishing the amount of theaters this sucker is playing in, so reaching the rarefied air of $300 million looks to be in doubt.

This Friday, Adam Sandler returns with his friends in Grown Ups 2, and Pacific Rim comes in with a big-budget spectacle of giant monsters vs. robots. Reviews will be right here my fellow Shockers!