Box office: ‘Despicable Me 2’ takes flight; ‘Lone Ranger’ hits skids

Johnny Depp and his dead-crow headdress are no match for millions of Minions. Box office estimates from the Fourth of July holiday indicate that “Despicable Me 2’s” reign over “The Lone Ranger” will continue throughout the five-day holiday period.

The Steve Carell-animated flick from Universal Pictures grossed an estimated $24.5 million on the Independence Day holiday, putting its two-day total at $59.5 million. The film is on track to earn between $135 million and $140 million for the five-day period.

That is a far cry from the $9.9 million earned by “The Lone Ranger” on Thursday. The PG-13-rated film starring Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the bumbling hero in the updated western has grossed an estimated $19.5 million in its first two days in release.

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The expensive $225-million production is tracking to earn between $55 million and $60 million over the five-day period, a far cry from Depp’s last live-action collaboration with director Gore Verbinski. The 2007 release “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” grossed $56 million in its first two days in release.

“Despicable Me 2” can now boast the second-highest July 4 opening behind Michael Bay’s “Transformers” debut, which earned $29 million back in 2007.

Holdovers “Monsters University,” “The Heat” and “World War Z” will likely fill out the remaining slots of the top five at the weekend box office.

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