Top 10 films at the Independence Day box office

The minions have overtaken “The Lone Ranger.” Universal’s animated sequel “Despicable Me 2” created box-office fireworks on the Fourth of July, earning $24.5 million.

The top 10 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Thursday, followed by distribution studio and gross, as compiled Friday by Hollywood.com, are:

1. “Despicable Me 2,” Universal, $24.5 million.

2. “The Lone Ranger,” Disney, $9.86 million.

3. “The Heat,” Fox, $6.4 million.

4. “Monsters University,” Disney, $5.2 million.

5. “World War Z,” Paramount, $4.3 million.

6. “White House Down,” Sony, $3.5 million.

7. “Man of Steel,” Warner Bros., $3.03 million.

8. “Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain,” Lionsgate, $2.58 million.

9. “This Is the End,” Sony, $1.13 million.

10. “Now You See Me,” Lionsgate, $673,127.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.