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.

Pixar Returns Under the Sea for Another 3D Re-Release

You can't help but wonder why these sea turtles sound like surfer dudes.

Andrew Stanton is one of those few directors in recent cinema, who genuinely understands that animation is just not about the set the visuals bar and the abundance of Hollywood voice acting, but it's a medium of art that can bring generations together time and time again. Back in 2003, Disney and Pixar submerged audiences to a world of wonder and as enormous of a canvas as the ocean itself. Technically, it was the ocean itself. But if by chance you were one of the few to miss its original run nearly a decade ago, Disney is re-releasing Finding Nemo 

Finding Nemo starts off with an extremely dark opening for a G-rated film as two clownfish, Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Coral, are forced to defend their anemone home from a menacing barracuda. As a result, Coral is killed as are the majority of their eggs, leaving only Marlin and one egg, an unborn Nemo. The incident leaves Marlin as an overprotective single father. During his first day of school, Nemo (Alexander Gould) defies his high-strung father and ventures off with his classmates to a drop-off point, only to captured by an Australian diver. Frantic for his son's survival, Marlin teams with Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a Blue Tang with memory issues to find his taken son back into theaters with a gouging 3D premium.