LOS ANGELES – Universal's minions ran away with the box office for the second week in a row.

With $44.8 million in domestic ticket sales Friday through Sunday, the animated sequel "Despicable Me 2" outdid the debuts of the Adam Sandler comedy "Grown Ups 2" and director Guillermo del Toro's monsters-versus-robots action flick "Pacific Rim."

The weekend's No. 1 movie featuring Steve Carell as ex-supervillain Gru made another $55.5 million overseas. That brought its global two-week total to $472.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The third-place finish of "Pacific Rim," with $38.3 million in receipts, represented a disappointing start domestically for Warner Bros. and partner Legendary Entertainment. Figures released by the studio showed it doing better overseas.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters:

1. "Despicable Me 2," $44.8 million.

2. "Grown Ups 2," $42.5 million.

3. "Pacific Rim," $38.3 million.

4. "The Heat," $14 million.

5. "The Lone Ranger," $11.1 million.

6. "Monsters University,"$10.6 million.

7. "World War Z," $9.4 million.

8. "White House Down," $6.2 million.

9. "Kevin Hart : Let Me Explain," $5 million.

10. "Man of Steel," $4.8 million.

ASSOCIATED PRESS