Everyone pretty much knew that Despicable Me 2 would beat The Lone Ranger at the box office over the July 4th holiday weekend, but few probably expected the severity of the beating. Despicable Me 2 could wind up tripling the box office take of The Lone Ranger at the U.S. box office.Both Despicable Me 2 and The Lone Ranger opened on July 2, 2013 to get an early start on the holiday weekend. During their first three days in movie theaters, Despicable Me 2 took in $89 million at the U.S. box office, while The Lone Ranger took in $30.16 million at the U.S. box office. According to projections from Deadline, Despicable Me 2 is on track for a $140 million five day holiday weekend opening, while The Lone Ranger is looking at a max of $47 million five day holiday weekend opening.The irony of Despicable Me 2 making three times as much as The Lone Ranger at the box office is that The Lone Ranger cost nearly three times as much as Despicable Me 2 to make. Despicable Me 2 had a production budget of $76 million, while The Lone Ranger had a production budget of $225 million. Both movies opened in relatively the same number of movie theaters.
