Despicable Me” had a sensational debut at the box office, taking in a studio-estimated $60.1 million and easily surpassing the second weekend of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” which dropped 49% to $33.4 million and is playing virtually even with the last “Twilight” movie, “New Moon.”
“Predators,” the other newbie at the box office this weekend, opened to $25.3 million, a strong start given its modest budget.
But “Despicable Me” was the big box-office news, as the 3-D movie far outpaced expectations based on pre-release surveys and marked a fantastic start for Universal Pictures in the competitive animated family film business. It was the biggest-ever opening for an original animated movie not made by Pixar or DreamWorks Animation, putting Universal’s Illumination Entertainment family films unit among the top players in its space.