LOS ANGELES - The Minions are still a box office force and original stories are scoring big, but not the R-rated comedy - even with Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler behind it.
Studio estimates Monday revealed that Universal Pictures and Illumination's "Despicable Me 3" earned $75.4 million over the weekend, while the former Saturday Night Live stars' gambling comedy "The House" burned down.
Featuring the voices of Steve Carell and Trey Parker, "Despicable Me 3" easily topped the holiday weekend charts from 4,529 theaters in North America.
Edgar Wright's original heist movie "Baby Driver" coasted to $30 million in its first five days in theaters, with $21 million from the three-day weekend to take second place. Sony Pictures released the R-rated pic which stars Jamie Foxx, Ansel Elgort, Jon Hamm and Kevin Spacey and cost a reported $34 million to produce.
The R-rated film did well with critics and is one of a handful of original or independent films this weekend that are notable successes. Sofia Coppola's R-rated Civil War-set film "The Beguiled" scored in its expansion from four to 674 theaters in its second weekend. It earned $3.3 million to take eighth place and bested franchise fare including "The Mummy" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," which were both playing in over 1,670 theaters.
The well-reviewed romantic comedy "The Big Sick" also did good business in its expansion to 71 locations, earning $1.7 million.
Rounding out the top five were holdovers "Transformers: The Last Knight" in third with $17 million, followed by "Wonder Woman" with $15.6 million and "Cars 3" with $9.5 million.
Not so successful was suburban gambling comedy "The House" which landed in sixth place with only $9 million - one of the lowest of Ferrell's career and the latest in a string of R-rated comedies to tank at the box office following "Rough Night" and "Baywatch."
"The R-rated comedy used to be the antidote to the typical summer blockbuster and now those films are having a tough time," said Dergarabedian noting success stories like "The Hangover," ''Bridesmaids" and "Neighbors." ''Now people feel like they've seen that movie before when they watch the trailer. They've lost interest." - AP
