Universal’s animated sequel adds $5.9m (£3.99m) for impressive $34.1m (£22.9m) to date; eOne’s Now You See Me debuts strongly with $4.3m (£2.9m).

With the hot weather seeing some hefty drops for holdover films, Despicable Me 2 fell 60% but managed to hold the top spot at the UK box office for a second straight week.

Universal’s animated sequel added $5.9m (£3.99m) for a strong $34.1m (£22.9m) to date in the UK, surpassing its predecessor’s $30.1m (£20.2m) result in the process.

Monsters University arrives this weekend to provide stiff competition for the top spot, but first Despicable Me 2 will be looking to chase down The Croods’ $39m (£26.2m) UK result to become 2013’s biggest animation.

EONE

Impressing on its UK debut, eOne’s Now You See Me conjured up $4.3m (£2.9m) to land second.

The result for Louis Leterrier’s heist thriller includes $1.6m (£1.1m) in previews and marks the distributor’s second-best debut of 2013, behind The Impossible. Outside of existing properties The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans, it also marks Leterrier’s best-ever UK bow.

It’s worth noting too that without previews, Now You See Me’s Friday-Sunday result of $2.7m (£1.8m) would have still seen it chart second.

Also for eOne, Behind the Candelabra has grossed a strong $4.6m (£3.1m) to date.

FOX

Thanks to its previews totalling a non-final $710,000 (£477,000), The Internship debuted third behind Now You See Me.

Fox’s comedy laughed its way to $1.9m (£1.2m) over its five-day opening from its 411 sites at a sturdy average of $4,526 (£3,037). That result is just behind with director Shawn Levy’s last foray into comedy, Date Night, which opened with $2m (£1.3m) including $496,000 (£332,912) in previews.

However it is around £1m off Wedding Crashers, which last paired Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as leads. That film debuted with $3.3m (£2.2m) including previews of $521,000 (£349,634).

Also for Fox, Epic has taken $19.2m (£12.2m) to date, while The East has grossed $201,000 (£134,609).

PARAMOUNT

Falling one place to fourth, Paramount’s World War Z scared up $1.2m (£830,106) in its third weekend in play.

Marc Forster’s 3D adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel is now up to a decent $18.2m (£12.2m) in the UK, currently the third-best international performance for the film behind South Korea and Russia.

WARNER BROS

Rounding off this week’s top five was Man of Steel which took $1.2m (£802,763) as it closed in on £30m in the UK.

Warner Bros’ 3D reboot of Superman has now soared to $42.2m (£28.4m) and while it won’t catch Iron Man 3 as 2013’s best superhero outing, it’s a healthy performance for a reboot.

By comparison, Batman Begins managed $24.4m (£16.4m) in its UK run.

Also for Warner Bros, The Hangover Part III and The Great Gatsby have grossed $28.7m (£19.3m) and $23.2m (£15.6m), respectively.

SONY

Crossing the £3m mark after ten days in play, This is the End added a non-final $750,000 (£503,000) in its second weekend. Sony’s apocalypse comedy is now up to $4.5m (£3.03m) in the UK.

Also for Sony, Before Midnight is up to $933,000 (£626,000) and, despite a strong start, will struggle to catch Before Sunset’s $1.4m (£932,259) UK result.

Meanwhile, After Earth has taken $9.3m (£6.2m) to date.

STUDIOCANAL

Opening in 66 sites through StudioCanal, The Bling Ring recorded an estimated $200,000 (£133,788) debut. That result is ahead of director’s Sofia Coppola’s last film Somewhere, which opened with $188,000 (£125,581) from 62 sites, but behind Coppola’s best UK opener which belongs to Lost in Translation’s $1.2m (£797,071) UK bow from 96 sites.

PICTUREHOUSE

Ben Wheatley’s ambitious multi-platform release A Field in England played in 17 sites over the weekend, resulting in a $32,000 (£21,399) debut at a $1,876 (£1,259) average. The film played to sold-out crowds at the likes of the Ritzy in London, Dukes at Komedia in Brighton and the Curzon Soho.

UPCOMING RELEASES

This week sees saturation releases for Disney’s Monsters University and Warner Bros’ Pacific Rim.

StudioCanal Blancanieves opens in the West End, while Metrodome’s The Deep and Lionsgate’s Trap for Cinderella are among the films receiving a limited release.