Minions rule the box off ice

The creatures of “Despicable Me 2” are drawing more fans than Johnny Depp.

Johnny Depp and his dead-crow headdress are no match for millions of Minions. Box-office estimates from the Fourth of July holiday indicate that “Despicable Me 2’s” reign over “The Lone Ranger” will continue throughout the five-day holiday period.

The Steve Carell-animated flick from Universal Pictures grossed an estimated $24.5 million on the Independence Day holiday, putting its two-day total at $59.5 million. The film is on track to earn between $135 million and $140 million for the five-day period. “The Lone Ranger,” which stars Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the bumbling hero in the updated western, has grossed an estimated $19.5 million in its first two days in release.

The expensive $225-million production is tracking to earn between $55 million and $60 million over the five-day period, a far cry from Depp’s last live-action collaboration with director Gore Verbinski. The 2007 release “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” grossed $56 million in its first two days in release.

“Despicable Me 2” can boast the second-highest July 4 opening behind Michael Bay’s “Transformers,” which earned $29 million in its 2007 debut. Holdovers “Monsters University,” “The Heat” and “World War Z” will likely fill out the top five at the weekend box office.