Minions top Sandler's Grown Ups 2

Los Angeles - The mighty minions of Despicable Me 2 fought off a challenge from Adam Sandler's new comedy sequel Grown Ups 2 to top the weekend movie charts in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates.

Despicable Me 2, the animated hit featuring the crowd-pleasing yellow minions, rung up $44.8m in ticket sales from Friday through Sunday in its second week in release to hold on to the top spot, despite a strong showing from Grown Ups 2, which took in $42.5m.

Big-budget thriller Pacific Rim, an apocalyptic battle that pits towering monsters against giant, human-piloted robots, settled for a third-place finish with $38.3m.