Box office

BOX OFFICE BINGO: Maybe the fanboys are saving up for Comic-Con. Pacific Rim, Guillermo Del Toro’s well-reviewed, $190 million sci-fi spectacular, failed to conquer the box office, debuting with $38.3 million to finish a disappointing #3 behind Despicable Me 2, which held onto the top spot in its second week, and the critically derided Adam Sandler-starring gross-out comedy Grown Ups 2 (God help us). But Warner Bros. hopes that Pacific Rim will build word-of-mouth momentum in this crowded summer market, pointing to the movie’s A-minus CinemaScore grade (looked like a real crowd-pleaser to us). Audiences were split nearly 50/50 between standard and 3-D, generating a record 3-D share for this summer, with IMAX showings accounting for 19% of the total. The summer’s biggest stiff appears to be the nearly $350m reboot of The Lone Ranger, which limped to #5 in week two.

1. Despicable Me 2 (Universal) – $44.8m (-46.4%), 4,003 theaters/$11,180 avg.
2. Grown Ups 2 (Sony) – $42.5m, 3,491 theaters/$12,174 avg.
3. Pacific Rim (WB) – $38.3m, 3,275 theaters/$11,695 avg.
4. The Heat (Fox) – $14m (-43.5%), 3,128 theaters/$4,476 avg.
5. The Lone Ranger (Disney) – $11.1m (-61.9%) 3,904 theaters/$2,853 avg.

Under the radar, Fox Searchlight’s ensemble comedy The Way, Way Back had a promising weekend in limited release, averaging a hair over $14k in 79 theaters to finish #13 overall. More at Box Office Mojo. (7/15a)