It's all about the kids this summer, as another animated feature debuted in the #1 position this weekend. "Shrek Forever After," "Toy Story 3," and now "Despicable Me" have all taken home the box office crown. The unexpected hit from Universal scored an estimated $60.1 million this weekend, delivering the studio their first topper of the season. With the PG-rated "The Karate Kid" and "The Last Airbender" performing stronger than expected, it really is a kid's world at multiplexes this summer.

For "Despicable Me," credit a strong second-effort marketing campaign that went straight for the cutsie dolls after the original advertising roll out fell flat, as it featured an odd trailer showcasing Steve Carell's menacing character. Considering that the film cost just $70 million, expect a sequel to be on the drawing board come Monday, as Universal is likely overjoyed to be in the extremely lucrative animation game. Watch out Disney and DreamWorks, there's a new evil mastermind in town.

"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" sucked it up in second place, dropping just 52% versus last weekend, and draining another $31 million from moviegoers. Last fall, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" free-fell 70% in weekend #2, however the front-loaded gross of a Wednesday opening for "Eclipse" puts the threequel about $15 million behind "New Moon" its first ten days in theatres. Still, at $234 million and counting, Summit Entertainment is licking their chops, as the vampire drama cost just $68 million and has already gashed $375 million worldwide.

"Predators" also opened strongly for Fox, as the fifth film in the sci-fi horror series shot up $25 million. The ensemble cast, led by Oscar-winner Adrien Brody, and rebooted by horror-maestro Robert Rodriguez, cost just $40 million and will undoubtedly be considered a decent success. The original, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, debuted with $12 million in the summer of 1987, and "AVP," the top-breadwinner of the series, rolled out with $38 million in 2004.

The top grossing movie of the summer, "Toy Story 3," finished in fourth place in its fourth weekend, drumming up another $21 million despite direct competition. With nearly $340 million in the domestic bank and $165 million in limited release internationally, it seems the only film that may have a chance at catching Woody and Buzz is Christopher Nolan's "Inception."

"The Last Airbender" fell hard, dropping 57% in its second weekend, and grossing $17 million in fifth place. With a $150 million budget, and  $100 million in North America in just a week and a half, it seems this film will eventually cut out a profit stateside and may actually sequelize, depending on how strong international grosses are.

Adam Sandler's new comedy, "Grown Ups," pulled off something pretty incredible as it eased just 15% in its third weekend, grossing $16 million in sixth place. With $111 million in the bank and not a comedy in sight until "Dinner with Schmucks" on July 30th, this will be Sandler's biggest hit in quite some time. Appealing to the masses never felt so good!

In limited release, Fox Searchlight's "Cyrus" powered into the Top 10 with a gross of $1.4 million in just 200 theatres. The John C. Reilly/Jonah Hill comedy has now totaled $3.5 million in four weeks.

Music Box's "The Girl Who Played With Fire" burnt up the box office as well in limited release, grossing $875,000 from just 106 sites. The sequel to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," it will likely play strongly throughout the summer as its predessesor grossed over $9 million in its lengthy 23 week run earlier this year. "Fire" has already grossed over $50 million overseas.

Debuting with the force of a two-year-old's tantrum, Focus Features' dramedy, "The Kids Are All Right," was released in just 7 theatres and grossed nearly $500,000. This is a sensational start for director Lisa Cholodenko's ("High Art," "Laurel Canyon") latest.

Next weekend expect magic at the box office from both "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Inception." With the Mouse House opening "Apprentice" on Wednesday, it certainly won't have the firepower to compete with Christopher Nolan's latest, but as you can plainly see kid's movies have been doing socco biz this summer. Expect grosses of $36 million for the weekend, upwards of $55 million for the 5-day gross, as well as a long run into August. And then we have "Inception," which looks like the only film that has a shot of unseating "Toy Story 3" as the top movie of the summer...if it delivers "Matrix"-like business for Warner Bros. Nolan hasn't missed yet and this is the last buzz-worthy title of the season, so expect a healthy, blockbuster sized opening--$80 million--and sensational holds thereafter.