`Minions' mania lures in families
Families went bananas for Minions this weekend at the movie theater. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” brought in an estimated $108.5 million in ticket sales from 4,391 screens in North America, Universal Pictures said Sunday. By the end of today's July Fourth holiday, it will likely have earned over $127.9 million.
The film is on track to become one of the biggest openings ever for a July Fourth holiday weekend, a record previously held by “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” which made $115.9 million in its first four days in 2011. Including international showings, where “Minions: The Rise of Gru” is playing in 61 markets, its worldwide gross is sitting at $202.2 million through Sunday.
“It's a tremendous debut,” said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution. “It's playing very broadly across North America. Every single market doing extraordinarily well.”
This is just the latest in a string of successes for Universal's family releases, including “Sing 2,” which has grossed over $406 million since opening in December, and “The Bad Guys,” which has made over $243 million. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” serves as further proof that family audiences are willing to go back to the movie theater.
The spinoff of the popular
“Despicable Me” series was delayed two years because of the pandemic. The sequel to the 2015 film “Minions” was originally slated for a July 2020 release.
While many other animated family films opted for streaming or hybrid releases, “Minions,” much like “Top Gun: Maverick,” stayed the course and waited for an ideal time to launch in theaters only. And as with “Top Gun” the wait, it seems, was worth it.
In second place was “Top Gun: Maverick,” which continues
to deliver six weeks in, adding another $25.5 million to its total, which has already surpassed $1 billion.
Warner Bros.' “Elvis” took third place, down only 39% in its second weekend in theaters. The Baz Luhrmann film grossed an estimated $19 million through Sunday, bringing its domestic total to $67.3 million.
Fourth and fifth place went to Universal titles as well with “Jurassic World: Dominion” picking up another $15.7 million and the horror movie “The Black Phone”
adding $12.3 million through Sunday.
Disney's “Lightyear,” meanwhile, tumbled further in its third weekend with an estimated $6.5 million.
Bleecker Street released “Mr. Malcolm's List “this weekend on 1,384 screens in the U.S. and Canada. The Regency-era comedy of manners stars Freida Pinto and Zawe Ashton as friends looking to get back at a picky bachelor. The studio estimates that the film will have $851,853 by end of Sunday and over $1 million by end of today.