Oh Lonesome Me: The Lone Ranger Crushed Early At Box Office
Disney's big-budget The Lone Ranger may only earn $50 million at the box-office this weekend after getting crushed by Universal's Despicable Me 2 in the opening few days of the box-office. The Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig voiced family flick is tracking for a $35 million Wednesday, whereas The Lone Ranger should only take around $11 million.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Despicable Me 2 will prove to be a huge box office hit over the Fourth of July weekend, with strong reviews and the hugely popular Minions leading the promotional trail. Meanwhile, The Lone Ranger - with Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer - is likely to take around $50 million, meaning it will need to do huge business internationally to recoup its mega budget of $250 million. Director Gore Verbinski and Depp reunited with Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Buckheimer, though the Hollywood A-lister's casting as Tonto appears to have been a misguided move and audiences appear underwhelmed with Hammer as the Ranger.
Watch The Lone Ranger trailer:
Despicable Me 2 - which has receiving glowing reviews - cost just $75 million to make and has already made $48 million for only seven territories. In the sequel, Carell's evil genius Gru is living a reformed family life with his three children before he is enlisted to capture a new villain who is threatening the future of the planet.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, the stand-up comedy film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain rolled out for a solid $1.1 million for only 876 theaters. Brad Pitt's World War Z, Monster's University and White House Down, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx, will also feature at the box-office this weekend.