Box Office Report: 'Despicable Me 2' Leaving 'Lone Ranger' in the Dust

Universal's Despicable Me 2 is already proving the box office hit everyone thought it would be, while Disney's The Lone Ranger may fail to ignite enough Fourth of July fireworks. Both films began rolling out Tuesday night, hoping to capitalize on the long holiday stretch.

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Despicable 2 grossed an estimated $30 million to $35 million on Wednesday, putting the 3D animated sequel on course for a possible five-day debut in the $120 million range, marking another major win for Universal's animation efforts. The family pic earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences, further boosting its standing.

Lone Ranger -- headlined by Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer -- may only reach half of that unless business picks up considerably.

The tentpole, receiving a B+ CinemaScore, is pacing to gross $11 million to $12 million on Wednesday for a meek five-day opening in the $50 million to $60 million range (some say it won't get much past $55 million). That's an especially troubling number considering the film's price tag, and means Lone Ranger will have to do huge business internationally, as well has have strong legs domestically.

Despicable Me 2 cost a modest $76 million to produce, while Lone Ranger cost at least $250 million. Director Gore Verbinski and Depp reunited with their Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer to bring Lone Ranger to the big screen.

With Lone Ranger, Disney is hoping to whip up the same magic that Bruckheimer, Verbinski and Depp created with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. In this latest film, Depp applies his penchant for playing quirky characters to the role of Tonto (Depp says he is part Native American), while Hammer plays the Lone Ranger.

Hollywood will be be paying close attention to Lone Ranger's performance (at one point, it was almost scrapped entirely because of the budget). This past weekend, Sony's big-budget action tentpole White House Down, which cost $150 million to produce, flopped in its North America debut, grossing just $24.9 million.

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Despicable 2 is something of a sure bet, considering it's a sequel to a family hit. The toon opens three years after the first film took the box office by storm. The films are the brainchild of Chris Meledandri's Illumination Entertainment, the animation venture backed by Universal.

Overseas, Despicable 2 has already earned an outstanding $48 million from only seven territories, including six where it opened over the weekend after initially rolling out in Australia the prior weekend.

In the toon, Steve Carell returns to voice the role of Gru, master of the minions, while Kristen Wiig voices the role of Agent Lucy Wilde.

Summit Entertainment enters the holiday fray with stand-up comedy film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, which likewise rolled out Tuesday night, grossing a solid $1.1 million from only 876 theaters. Summit is hoping to provide counter-programming for African-American audiences as well as comedy fans. The film, from Codeblack Films and HartBeat Productions, was shot live at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Fred Armisen Confirms He's Leaving SNL After 11 Years

Fred Armisen is leaving Saturday Night Live after 11 years.

Fred Armisen's Saturday Night Live days are over. The celebrated cast member, 46, confirmed he won't be returning for new episodes of NBC's live sketch comedy show during a June 28 interview with Splitsider. (Around the time Bill Hader announced he was leaving SNL just before its May 18 season finale, Armisen was rumored to be quitting, too.)

"I didn't do any kind of official announcement, but I really felt like it was obvious," said Armisen, who was once married to Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and later dated former SNL cast member Abby Elliott. "An ending that was a love letter to all the music I grew up with, and also to my friends and to SNL and to [creator Lorne Michaels] and to the cast. There was a lot of emotion attached to it, but it was a very positive emotion."

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(During the May 18 episode, the final sketch featured Armisen, Hader, Jason Sudeikis and Taran Killam playing a British rock band saying their goodbyes on the final night of a tour. Armisen's Portlandia costar, Sleater-Kinney rocker Carrie Brownstein, also joined the group on stage.)

Armisen joined the cast of SNL during its 28th season in 2002. He is the second-longest tenured cast member behind Seth Meyers, who will take over as the host of Late Night in 2014. Armisen said his decision to leave felt "very natural."

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"I love Saturday Night Live, and I really feel like people who have left before me have always stayed with the show. They never really quite left, which is nice. Everyone kind of stays close," he explained. "For example, like when [Kristen Wiig] left, we saw her again. And [Andy Samberg] and [Tina Fey] and Amy Poehler and [Maya Rudolph]. On one level, we stay in each other's lives, but also the show. I feel like people don't really just leave in a cold way. I think people stay around in their own way."

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The other factor that made Armisen want to walk away from SNL? IFC's Portlandia, which was recently renewed for two more seasons. "Portlandia started to pull me away more and more, schedule-wise, and I just felt like it'd be nice to focus on it a little more and go into the fall a bit more with shooting," Armisen said. "So it was because of that. And also it was just a feeling. . . I was there for a long time and I also felt like I came away from Saturday Night Live feeling very well represented. I felt, and I still feel like, they let me do so much stuff that I wanted to do. Stuff that I almost didn't even know what it was. I was like, this is kind of a little bit of an experiment, or this is just a band thing, this is just a music thing. They just let me do so much, so I felt very fulfilled."

He added that the new cast members made him "feel really good" about leaving. "It was a combination of everything, between Portlandia and the feeling of real satisfaction and happiness," Armisen said. "I was like, 'I'm enjoying this so much, this'll be a good time to kind to go to the next phase.'" Armisen said what he'll miss most is writing the sketches with his fellow cast members.

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In addition to Portlandia, Armisen said he hopes to create other projects. "I just want to keep making things. Just keep going. I love doing it," he told Splitsider. "I want to make more and more things. It just makes me happy."