Minions: The Rise of Gru shatters July 4th weekend box office records, earning over $127 million. A spinoff from the Despicable Me franchise and a sequel to 2015's Minions, Minions: The Rise of Gru chronicles the origins of Steve Carell's Gru in the 1970s, seeing him and his minions face off against an evil supervillain group known as the Vicious 6. The film currently holds a 72% on Rotten Tomatoes, with some critics writing that the charms of the franchise are starting to wear thin, although the audience score of 92% may suggest otherwise for general moviegoers.
Minions: The Rise of Gru, which is produced by Illumination, is the fifth film overall in the Despicable Me franchise. The film was scheduled to release almost two years ago, but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed, finally premiering at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in the middle of June. In addition to Carell, The impressive voice cast of Minions: The Rise of Gru includes the likes of Piere Coffin, Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Julie Andrews, Russell Brand, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, and Lucy Lawless.
Per a new report from Variety, Minions: The Rise of Gru has smashed July 4th weekend box office records, expected to reach $127.9 million by Monday. Based on those estimates, the film will surpass the previous record holder, 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which earned $115.9 million over 4 days. Minions: The Rise of Gru also very nearly matches box office performance of the first Minions movie, which earned $115 million over its 3-day opening.
After Lightyear's disappointing box office opening of $70 million over three days last month, Minions: The Rise of Gru is an encouraging sign that family-friendly movies can still be strong performers at the box office. With families with young children not proving to be reliable theater-goers during the pandemic, several animated films, including the likes of Luca and Turning Red, skipped theaters altogether and went straight to streaming. Combined with Top Gun: Maverick's continued stellar box office performance, Minions: The Rise of Gru is yet another sign that movie-going is finally getting back to normal after several years of struggle.
Although Minions: The Rise of Gru hasn't been a total hit with critics, the film has evidently struck a chord with audiences. It's still not entirely clear why Lightyear failed where Minions: The Rise of Gru succeeded, but the former's slightly confusing marketing and its unclear relationship to the Toy Story franchise could have played a role. Minions: The Rise of Gru, however, is part of an easily-identifiable franchise with a clear target audience, factors that undoubtedly aided in its performance. It remains to be seen what the future holds for movie theaters, but recent box office performance numbers suggest that family audiences are once again comfortable returning to the cinema, even if they are a little pickier about what they see.
Source: Variety