Well, this was not expected. Studio tracking showed Universal Pictures and Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters” looking for an $85 million five-day over the July 4th Holiday frame. Instead, the animated family film took in just $61 million since opening on Wednesday. That’s coming off “Minions: The Rise of Gru’s” $123 million over four days in 2002 and “Despicable Me 4’s” $122 million over a five-day frame in 2024. Internationally, “Monsters” has fared better, earning another $98.4 million for a global gross of $159.4 million so far.
There will be a ton of second-guessing over “Monsters'” performance. Especially considering it earned the best reviews of any “Minions” movie to date (69 on Metacritic, 91% on Rotten Tomatoes) and an A- CinemaScore. But the verified Rotten Tomatoes score was a franchise low 76% (the same as “Supergirl”), and it earned just an OK 58% on Rentrak’s PostTrack definite recommend score. “Monsters” also arrived with a crowd-pleasing “Toy Story 5” still killing it in the marketplace. Comparatively, “Despicable Me 4” thrived opposite “Inside Out 2,” but the “Toy Story” franchise is a different animal. Some will argue that the July 4th holiday landing on Saturday didn’t help, but the film underperformed expectations Wednesday through Friday, too. It may simply be that three “Minions” related films over four years was a bit too much for casual moviegoers.
Speaking of animated films, the aforementioned “Toy Story 5” dropped to second place with a $31 million weekend. The Pixar blockbuster has taken in $366.3 million domestically and a stellar $764 million worldwide in just 16 days. It’s tracking about $80 million behind “Inside Out 2,” but should still cross the $1 billion mark later this month.
Tapping into Angel Studios’ conservative audience base, “Young Washington” overperformed projections with $20.8 million over the three-day. At a reported $20 million production cost expected to recoup sooner rather than later, financiers have already announced a sequel, “1776,” has been greenlit. Critics didn’t love it (50 on Metacritic, 58% Rotten), but Angel’s core demo fueled it to an A CinemaScore. “Washington” is also the best live-action opening for Angel Studios so far, eclipsing the $19.68 million “Sound of Freedom” earned in 2023.
DC Studios and Warner Bros.’ “Supergirl” continues to disappoint, dropping 74% in its second weekend with another $9.6 million for $57.8 million domestic and $100.5 million worldwide. At a reported $170+ million production cost, the “Superman” spin-off looks like a significant bomb for WB overall.
In limited release, Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite” expanded to 28 screens for another $800,000, an impressive $28,597 per screen and $1.3 million so far. A24 expands the Sundance Film Festival standout nationwide on Friday.
Among other releases, “Disclosure Day” hit $105 million in the U.S. and $207 million global. “Obsession” keeps scaring with $245 million domestic and $403 million worldwide. “Backrooms” is also at $190.4 million in the U.S. and $355 million global.
New releases on Friday include Walt Disney Studios’ live action “Moana” and Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema’s “Evil Dead Burn.”
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