‘Despicable Me 3’ Dominates Holiday Weekend [Box Office]

Canada spent last night celebrating the 150th birthday of the Great White North, and the United States will ring in July 4th in just a couple of days. While that means people are away for the weekend, and kicking off summer vacations, that hasn’t slowed down the box office.

Families packed up the kids and went to see “Despicable Me 3,” which took in $75 million over the past few days. While some may tout the opening, which is off the mark from the $83 million debut of “Despicable Me 2” as franchise fatigue, Universal Pictures probably isn’t too worried about it. It’s certainly a far cry from the $115 million launch of “Minions” two years back, but those cutesy creatures are secondary players in “Despicable Me,” but it’ll be interesting to see where enthusiasm stands for “Minions 2” when it arrives in 2020. But back to “Despicable Me 3,” it’s worth remembering that its predecessor made $970 million worldwide, with 62% of that from foreign box office. The film has launched strong abroad with $116 million, with big markets like China still to come, so it’s likely going to wind up with a healthy final tally.

Driving into second place with all kinds of buzz was Edgar Wright‘s “Baby Driver” which earned $21 million, zooming to a $30 million tally since it launched on Wednesday. It’s Wright’s best opening of his career, and with a lean $34 million budget (which is pretty remarkable given how action-heavy the movie is), it’s going to wind up doing fine. The real question is how much word of mouth will help the legs on this movie, but nonetheless, it’s on the path towards success, which means hopefully another Wright original sooner rather than later.

“Transformers: The Last Knight” had a stronger hold then you might’ve expected. Falling 62% in week two, the movie has surpassed the $100 million mark domestically and has hit a massive $429 million globally. Not bad for two weeks work. Speaking of blockbusters you shouldn’t count out, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” has reached $708 million thus far and $800 million is not out of the question. That said, domestically, its doomed to be the lowest-grossing film in the series. Meanwhile, After four weeks of release, “The Mummy” has reached $369.7 million around the planet and so $400 million is a no-brainer. The question is how high can it go? The story isn’t the same domestically though; the Dark Universe film won’t crack $100 in North America.

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Not screened for critics, and seemingly barely acknowledged by Warner Bros., the Will Ferrell/Amy Poehler R-rated comedy “The House” debuted with a meager $9 million. It’s the worst wide release opening of Ferrell’s career, but he won’t be worried too much with “Daddy’s Home 2” just a few months away. The number is particularly striking given that two years back, the R-rated “Get Hard” kicked off with $33 million, but that movie had one key, special ingredient — Kevin Hart. Certainly, studios will be a bit more cautious about Ferrell’s next R-rated outing, and will probably want to make sure he’s paired with a truly bankable star.

In limited release, the weekend belonged to “The Little Hours,” with the indie comedy scoring $61,560 from two screens, and earning the best per-screen average of any film in release this week.

Lastly, “Wonder Woman” has cracked the $700 million mark worldwide ($708 million to be precise), and with $346 million at home, it’s the highest earning DCEU effort domestically to date. Worldwide, it’s the fourth highest grossing film of 2017 so far.  The super heroine movie has had an amazing hold so far, and at this rate, it should be able to reach $400 million domestically which would be a huge triumph for the movie.

1. “Despicable Me 3” — $75.4 million
2. “Baby Driver” — $21 million ($30 mil.)
3. “Transformers: The Last Knight” — $17 million ($102.1 mil.)
4. “Wonder Woman” — $16.1 million ($346.6 mil.)
5. “Cars 3” — $9.5 million ($120.7 mil.)
6. “The House” — $9 million
7. “The Beguiled” — $3.2 million ($3.5 mil.)
8. “The Mummy” — $2.7 million ($74.5 mil.)
9. “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” — $2.4 million ($165.4 mil.)
10. “All Eyez On Me” — $1.8 million ($42.7 mil.)