WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Despicable Me 2' Conquers Fourth of July Box Office, Depp's 'Lone Ranger' Left for Dead

The lovable minions from the highly anticipated sequel, Despicable Me 2 lit up the Fourth of July holiday frame earning the top spot this weekend as well as becoming the most successful animated film for the first 5-days of its run.  Despicable Me 2 looks to join animated juggernauts such as Shrek 2, The Lion King and Finding Nemo by summer's end.

However, Johnny Depp's costly iteration of The Lone Ranger couldn't hold a candle to the success of Despicable Me 2, opening much lower than anticipated by many box-office analysts. With a weak $29 million 3-day opening, The Lone Ranger is pegged to be one of 2013's greatest financial failures.

The Heat, Monsters University and World War Z round out the weekend's Top 5 with all three films continuing their ascent towards their next milestones.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Monsters University' Repeats, Taking 'The Heat' and 'White House Down' to School

Raunchy buddy cop films and Roland Emmerich's latest assault on the White House since his 1996 film, Independence Day failed to put a dent into Pixar's continuing success of the final box office frame in June.

Pixar prequel, Monsters University topped the charts for the second week in a row with a $46 million weekend, more than half of its $82 million opening haul. With Despicable Me 2 and The Lone Ranger set for Wednesday release this holiday weekend, the family competition grows stiff.

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy's comedy The Heat opened in second with $40 million, coming up short of the top spot, but bolting past the frame's only other new wide release, White House Down. The Jamie Foxx action vehicle scored a decade low for Roland Emmerich outside of his 2011 film, Anonymous.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Monsters University' and 'World War Z' Scare Superman Reboot Off Top Spot

The summer box office season might have started last month with $400 million blockbuster Iron Man 3, but with both Monsters University and World War Z opening north of $65 million, the first official weekend of summer 2013 ranks as the 8th largest weekend ever.

Pixar can rest easy now that their 14th feature, Monsters University cleared $80 million, a near-impossible feat that's only been broken once before by the animation studio. After a strong $30 million opening day, Monsters University already finds itself off to a more impressive start than Pixar's previous two films, Cars 2 and Brave.

Brad Pitt's zombie apocalyptic film, World War Z also opened higher than expected with $66 million. With Monsters University and World War Z taking the top two spots, last week's superhero champion, Man of Steel dropped to a third place finish.

Disney/Pixar's "Monsters University" Graduates Top of Its Animated Class

Mike Wasowski (Billy Crystal) prepares a year of scaring and partying at Monsters University.

With the exception of last summer's Brave, Pixar continues to capitalize on its most profitable franchises releasing sequel after sequel leaving the question whether or not the studio has much more originality left in the tank. But even if fresh new concepts aren't generating out of the reputable studio, Toy Story 3 and now Monsters University have undeniably proved that expanding upon beloved existing worlds reaps its own slew of successes.

Set many years before 2001's Monsters, Inc., Monsters University details the beginnings of  Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley's (John Goodman) relationship that started at the titular school where both strive to become professional scarers. The two enter campus completely different. Mike is overly ambitious, but isn't taken seriously for being a small green cyclops while Sulley rides the coattails of his family's legacy, under the impression that he doesn't need to put any effort in college to succeed.

Top 10: Most Anticipated Movies of 2013

Hollywood has its work cut out in 2013. 2012. For starters, where do superhero movies go from here after competitors Marvel and DC exponentially raised the genre's bar with The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises? How about smaller films? Lincoln, Argo and Silver Linings Playbook all transformed into critical darlings overnight and that magic is only duplicated for the rare few.

Even with audience expectations set at a higher level than before, there are still ten movies that must be experienced in theaters as early as possible. Below are my choices for my most anticipated movies released in 2013.