Minions & Monsters, the third prequel film in the Despicable Me universe, has led the charge over the box office weekend despite earning just US$61 million, one of the lowest debuts in the franchise.
As reported by Variety, the film didn’t get the Hollywood ending it wanted, concluding the five-day-long Fourth of July weekend with a US$61.4 million domestic haul. This makes it one of the lowest openings in the franchise, with the original Despicable Me film garnering US$56 million (before inflation) when it opened in 2010. Overseas, the film performed much better, grossing a further US$98.43 million from 71 markets.
Minions & Monsters’ misfire comes despite the film’s positive reception, which suggests franchise fatigue, considering there have been seven films in the franchise since its debut 16 years ago. Directed by franchise veteran Pierre Coffin, this latest entry is set in 1920s Hollywood and sees the yellow troublemakers getting up to antics once more as they navigate the movie-making scene as it transitions from silent films to fully voiced ones, tapping into summoning real-life monsters for the ultimate horror movie, only for things to quickly spiral out of control.
Coming in at second place was Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5, which continues to see strong performance over its fourth weekend with an additional US$31 million haul. The film has now earned US$764.3 million globally, making it the third-best-performing film of the year so far. Angel Studios’ American historical war drama film Young Washington came in at third place, with the retelling of George Washington’s story before the American Revolutionary War and his presidency earning US$20.8 million domestically.
Rounding off the top five earners this weekend was Warner Bros’ Supergirl at fourth place, which saw a massive 74 percent decline over its second outing with a mere US$9.6 million domestic haul. The superhero box office bomb has now garnered just US$100.5 million globally to date, hinting at a rough future ahead as it struggles to recoup its hefty US$170 million budget plus what was surely an equally high advertising cost. Finally, Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day garnered a further US$6 million in its fourth weekend, coming in at fifth place.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
