The Minions celebrate their top spot win at the weekend box office in Malaysia, Singapore and U.S.

11 Jul – When it comes to the yellow creatures in "Despicable Me 2", all bets are off. In its first week in theatres (second if you count the sneak preview week), the Minions largely dominated the box office charts over the week of 4 to 7 July, leaving no chance for fellow newcomer "The Lone Ranger". The animated comedy film picks up where the first left off, with Gru having resigned from villainy to look after his three adopted daughters, Margo, Edith and Agnes, but not for long. The Anti-Villain League (AVL) needs Gru, as former villain, to prevent a mutating chemical compound, PX-41, which transforms living things into indestructible killing machines, from getting into the wrong hands and discover who is behind the nefarious plot in the process.

Meanwhile, "The Lone Ranger", which stars Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp as John Reid a.k.a. the Lone Ranger and Tonto, respectively, opens in second place in both Malaysia and Singapore. Directed by Gore Verbinski, the Western tells the story of how John Reid became the titular Ranger, and his attempts at stopping the evil plans of the ruthless Butch Cavendish.

Even with A-list actor Johnny Depp, "The Lone Ranger" fails to defeat the Minions.

Surprisingly, "Singam 2" has taken the third spot in Malaysia. The sequel to the successful "Singam" third spot win showed that Bollywood movies have as big a fan base as Hollywood and local films among Malaysian moviegoers. On the other hand, in Singapore, it is "White House Down" that rounded up the top three.

In U.S., "Despicable Me 2" managed to earn over USD 143.1 million in first place, with "The Lone Ranger" at number two. Unlike Singapore, however, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy's cop buddy movie "The Heat" saw better reception, and ended up overtaking "Monsters University" to third spot while the latter plummeted from first place to fourth.

Two other movies opened over the week in Malaysia, which were "Blind Detective" and "Jatt And Juliet 2".

As for Singapore, the other new movies to open over the week are "No", "Vehicle 19", "3096 Days", "Blind Detective" and "Lootera".