Universal/Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters” won’t be as big of a box office hit as past “Despicable Me” and “Minions” films, as the impact of America 250 and somewhat lower audience scores have left the seventh film in the franchise with a $61 million five-day domestic box office opening, the lowest in the series.
That’s well below the $123 million four-day opening that “Minions: The Rise of Gru” earned on Fourth of July weekend in 2022 en route to a $940 million global theatrical total.
To be clear, “Minions & Monsters” will still be a theatrical hit for Universal, as the movie has a budget of just $85 million before marketing and has also earned $98 million overseas for an estimated $160 million total worldwide through Sunday. This July 4th also had a unique impact on moviegoing, as millions of Americans opted to spend the historic 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing outside rather than in a dark theater.
But it’s also possible that lower audience reception played a factor in this franchise low opening for the “Minions” franchise. While critics fell in love with the movie’s myriad references to classic Hollywood films from a century ago and gave it a franchise best 91% Rotten Tomatoes score, audiences gave “Minions & Monsters” an A- on CinemaScore, 76% audience RT score and a 58% definite recommend on PostTrak.
By comparison, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” got an A on CinemaScore, 89% RT score, and 71% definite recommend. We won’t get a clearer idea of how much of a difference that makes in dollars until next weekend, when Disney’s remake of “Moana” makes the family film market even more competitive. But it does take a blow to the expectation that “Minions 3” would be able to coexist easily alongside the wildly popular and audience acclaimed “Toy Story 5.”
Speaking of “Toy Story 5,” that Disney/Pixar sequel has steamed past $350 million domestic and $750 million worldwide, posting a 3-day total of $31 million in its third weekend for a $366 million domestic total and $764 million globally. It is well on its way to passing “Michael” as the highest grossing film of the year so far, which would also make it the highest grossing “Toy Story” film before inflation adjustment.
In third is Angel and Wonder Project’s “Young Washington,” a Fourth of July-timed offering about the future revolutionary general and first American president during his days as a British soldier. Directed by Jon Erwin, the film earned a $20.8 million opening weekend from 2,700 theaters, sitting just behind Angel’s $22 million studio opening record held by the animated film “David.”
In fourth is Warner Bros./DC’s rapidly sinking “Supergirl,” which industry estimates have falling 74% from its poor $37.1 million opening to a second weekend total of just $9.6 million. At its current pace with a global total of $100 million, the superhero film is now on pace to finish with a global cume below the $169 million of “Wonder Woman 1984,” a movie released at the end of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
