Despicable Me 2 and Grown Ups 2 are neck and neck for the 1st place finish at this weekend's box office. Although Despicable Me 2 has been in theaters for more than a week already, family fare always plays exceedingly well at the summer box office, when the kids are on vacation and the families are truly starved for family friendly fare.
A still from the first Despicable Me
Grown Ups 2 and Pacific Rim were the two new releases this weekend, and while both are over-performing [based on their original projections], Pacific Rim seems firmly locked in third place.
The real battle is between Grown Ups 2 and Despicable Me 2, who are both looking at $43 million for the weekend. In fact, Grown Ups 2 looks like it might even get to $44 million, which put in first place.
A still from 'Pacific Rim'
This pretty much proves that Adam Sandler movies are as critic-proof as you get at the box office, especially considering that the film is at an abysmal 8% on Rotten Tomatoes [at the time of this article]. Unfortunately, Pacific Rim - even with above a 70% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, looks like it's locked in for third place with an estimated $38 million for the weekend. While still above expectations, it's not nearly the numbers the studio was looking for.
The trailer for Grown Ups 2
