The minions of "Despicable Me 2″ ignited the July 4 weekend at the box office with a sparkling $34 million opening Wednesday, running circles around Disney’s mega-budgeted "The Lone Ranger,” which brought in less than $10 million.
The weak $9.7 million debut puts the adaptation of the classic radio and TV show, with Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as Tonto, on course for a weekend in the $45 million range. That's way under projections, and all but assures the action Western, from the "Pirates of the Caribbean team of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, won’t come close to recouping its $225 million budget and marketing costs.