Monsters University Beats The Heat To The Top Of The US Box Office, With White House Down Flopping

As most had expected, Monsters University stayed atop the US box office, taking another $46 million for a very healthy total so far of $171 million. Now all eyes will be seeing whether the film can stay strong once Despicable Me 2 is released on Friday.

The race for the new released was for the second spot, with The Heat taking the runners up position with a surprisingly strong $40 million opening weekend. That’s the top opening ever for Sandra Bullock and Paul Feig, and the highest for Melissa McCarthy in a starring role. Although it’s unlikely to top Feig’s Bridemaids in the long run, it undoubtedly got off to a good start.

Many had expected it to be a close race to the number two position between The Heat and White House Down, but in the end the former ran away with it. Roland Emmerich’s action movie ended up flopping with $25 million, with many suggesting the fact it came so close to the similarly themed Olympus Has Fallen and with a glut of male-oriented action movies in cinemas, there simply wasn’t room for the film.

It’s the second flop in a row for Sony Pictures following After Earth, which is causing a lot of unrest with the company’s shareholders. Indeed many are asking for the very variable film unit to be spun off into a separate company to it has less effect on the overall corporation.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of June 28th-30th.