After a historically bad first half of the year, the box office suddenly is booming. Despicable Me 4, the Illumination Animation sequel, led the way over the holiday weekend with $75 million in ticket sales Friday through Sunday and $122.6 million since opening on Wednesday, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Independence Day holiday weekend haul for the Universal Pictures release further extends the considerable box office reign of the Minions, arguably the most bankable force in movies today, the AP reports. And it also kept a summer streak going for Hollywood.
Since the 2010 original Despicable Me, each entry of the franchise—including two sequels and two Minions spinoffs—has been seemingly guaranteed to gross around $1 billion. That run has helped give Illumination founder and chief executive Chris Meledandri one of the most enviable track records in Hollywood. Despicable Me 4, directed by Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage, returns the voice cast led by Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig and doubles down on more Minion mayhem. Reviews—54% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes—weren't particularly good for the latest installment, which includes a witness protection plot and a group of Minions transformed into a superhero squadron. But in their 12-year run, little has slowed down the Minions.
Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- Despicable Me 4, $75 million.
- Inside Out 2, $30 million.
- A Quiet Place Day One, $21 million.
- MaXXXine, $6.7 million.
- Bad Boys: Ride or Die, $6.5 million.
- Horizon: An American Saga, Chapter 1, $5.5 million.
- Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot, $3.2 million.
- Kaiki 2898, $1.8 million.
- The Bikeriders, $1.3 million.
- Kinds of Kindness, $860,000.
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