Are the Minions losing their star power?
Although “Minions & Monsters,” a 1920s Hollywood-set prequel in the animated “Despicable Me” universe, led the box office over the Fourth of July weekend, the well-reviewed family film opened way behind projections with $36 million from 4,243 North American locations between Friday and Monday and $64.5 million since Wednesday. Heading into the weekend, “Minions & Monsters” was aiming for $80 million over the five-day frame. Initial sales are a huge drop from its predecessors and rank as the lowest start in the franchise, below even the original 2010’s “Despicable Me” which managed to earn $56 million (not adjusted for inflation) over the traditional weekend while introducing the yellow, pill-shaped agents of chaos to the world.
Box office watchers had anticipated a softer turnout across the industry over the holiday weekend since July 4th landed on Saturday. They assumed that instead of going to theaters on the busiest day of the week for moviegoing, people would be attending BBQs and watching fireworks to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.
That likely accounted for some drop-off, but that doesn’t explain such a massive opening weekend decline from the franchise’s two most recent entries, 2022’s spinoff sequel “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and 2024’s “Despicable Me 4,” which launched to $123 million and $122 million, respectively, over the same five-day holiday stretch. After all, families didn’t totally avoid the big screen: “Toy Story 5” earned almost as much over the Friday to Sunday stretch with $31 million from 3,975 venues in its fifth weekend of release. Disney and Pixar’s kid-friendly film was No. 2 at the domestic box office and boosted grosses to $366 million in North America and $764 million worldwide.
