Minions coast to top of holiday box-office
The Minions are still a box-office force and original stories are scoring big, but not the R-rated comedy — even with Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler behind it.
Studio estimates on Sunday say that Universal Pictures and Illumination’s Despicable Me 3 earned $75.4 million (U.S.) over the weekend, while the former Saturday Night Live stars’ gambling comedy The House burned down.
Featuring the voices of Steve Carell and Trey Parker, Despicable Me 3 easily topped the holiday weekend charts from 4,529 theatres in North America.
Edgar Wright’s original heist movie Baby Driver coasted to $30 million in its first five days in theatres, with $21million from the three-day weekend to take second place. Sony Pictures released the R-rated pic, which stars Jamie Foxx, Ansel Elgort, Jon Hamm and Kevin Spacey and cost a reported $34 million to produce.
The R-rated film did well with critics and is one of a handful of original or independent films this weekend that are notable successes. Sofia Coppola’s R-rated Civil War-set film The Beguiled scored in its expansion from four to 674 theatres in its second weekend.
The well-reviewed romantic comedy The Big Sick also did good business in its expansion to 71 locations, earning $1.7 million. The R-rated film expands nationwide on July 14.
“The R-rated comedy used to be the antidote to the typical summer blockbuster and now those films are having a tough time,” Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for comScore said, noting success stories such as The Hangover, Bridesmaids and Neighbours. “Now people feel like they’ve seen that movie before when they watch the trailer. They’ve lost interest.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. Despicable Me 3, $75.4 million. 2. Baby Driver, $21 million. 3. Transformers: The Last Knight, $17 million. 4. Wonder Woman, $15.6 million. 5. Cars 3, $9.5 million. 6. The House, $9 million. 7. 47 Metres Down, $4.7 million. 8. The Beguiled, $3.3 million. 9. The Mummy, $2.8 million. 10. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, $2.4 million.