‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ Rules Box Office With $108.5 Million 3-Day Opening

Jeremy Fuster
·3 min read

Universal/Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” has become the first big animated hit of the post-shutdown box office with an estimated domestic opening of $108.5 million from 4,391 screens and $195.7 million worldwide.

Just shy of the $115 million opening earned by the first “Minions” in 2015, “The Rise of Gru” now joins its predecessor among the top 10 highest openings ever for animated films. It currently sits ninth on that list, just ahead of the $108 million opening of “Shrek 2” in 2004. Universal also estimates that “Minions 2” will earn an extended July 4 opening of $127.9 million.

Audience reception has been incredibly strong for “Minions 2” with an A from CinemaScore and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score to go with 72% from critics. More importantly, CinemaScore polls showed that 50% of the film’s opening day audience was from families, a higher audience share than the other big family film hit of 2022, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.” If there was any concern from the struggles of Pixar’s “Lightyear” that the return of families to movie theaters has stalled out, it is gone now.

Also Read:
Why ‘Lightyear’ Failed to Lift Off: 6 Lessons From Pixar’s Meh $51 Million Opening

Holdovers for the top 5 films are also looking very strong. With $26 million in its sixth weekend, Paramount/Skydance’s “Top Gun: Maverick” now has a total of $570.9 million domestic and $1.14 billion worldwide. It now ranks No. 12 on the all-time domestic charts and in the top 25 on the all-time global charts.

In third is Warner Bros.’ “Elvis,” which is holding strong thanks to continued turnout from older audiences eager to see a biopic of the King of Rock and Roll. Its $19 million second weekend is just 39% down from its $30.5 million opening weekend, giving it a 10-day total of $67.5 million.

Universal completes the top 5 with its blockbuster “Jurassic World: Dominion” and Blumhouse horror title “The Black Phone.” The global total for “Dominion” has now exceeded $800 million worldwide, becoming the fourth Hollywood film of the pandemic era to reach that mark as it adds $15.6 million in its fourth weekend. Through Sunday, “Dominion” has a total of $331.7 million domestic and $821 million worldwide.

Also Read:
June Domestic Box Office Hit a COVID-Era High, Best in 2-1/2 Years

“The Black Phone” has also posted a solid hold as an original horror film against tough competition with a $12.3 million 3-day second weekend. The $18 million horror film starring Ethan Hawke now has a global total of $74 million.

Finally, A24’s “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” expanded to 22 theaters in limited release this weekend, with the indie distributor estimating a 4-day weekend of $307,739 for a per theater average of $13,998. The film will go wide later this month.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • FTSE 100 Live 25 April: Index surges on £31bn mining takeover move and blue-chip updates

    A £31 billion takeover pursuit and some robust blue-chip updates helped to boost the FTSE 100 index today. Anglo American, whose interests include De Beers and the giant Woodsmith polyhalite project in North Yorkshire, is the target of Australia’s BHP. Meanwhile, shares in Barclays, AstraZeneca and Unilever performed strongly after their first quarter updates.

  • EU military officer says a frigate has destroyed a drone launched from Yemen's Houthi-held areas

    A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU miliary mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on Thursday morning. Austrian Gen. Robert Brieger, who is chair of the EU’s military committee, said that it would be crucial for the bloc to “conserve resources” over the long haul because the threat posed by Houthi attacks “will not disappear” due to its connection to the Israel-Hamas war. “The task given to the military is simply to protect merchant ships and to show the public that the European Union is not willing to accept a terrorist organization will interrupt the freedom of movement at sea,” Brieger said.

  • EU should set 600 billion euro target for capital markets union-France

    The European Union should set a target to raise 600 billion euros ($644 billion) in investments annually by the end of the decade by integrating its fragmented capital markets, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday. Although Europeans generally save more than Americans, EU capital markets currently lack the depth of their U.S. counterparts because they largely operate along national lines. All EU leaders gave support to the principle of capital markets union at a summit this month though divisions remain on the details, with some countries reluctant to cede control of national financial rules.

  • Shoplifting hits record high with more than 1,000 offences a day

    Shoplifting has hit a record high of nearly 1,200 offences a day - but the number of cases solved has fallen to a low of just one in 10.

  • Dow Jones Futures Fall As Meta Dives On Guidance; Chipotle Eyes Buy Point

    The rally attempt paused Wednesday as Nvidia reversed lower. Meta, Chipotle and ServiceNow led key earnings late.

  • Fourth person arrested after five migrants die in Channel boat crossing tragedy

    An 18-year-old from Sudan was arrested at Manston migrant processing centre in Kent on Wednesday evening.

  • Q1 2024 Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc Earnings Call

    Q1 2024 Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc Earnings Call

  • Russian rouble hits three-week high on eve of rate decision

    The Russian rouble hit a three-week high against the dollar on Thursday, a day before the central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates at 16% for its third meeting in a row. At 1039 GMT the rouble was up 0.1% against the dollar at 92.11 for its strongest since April 3. All 26 analysts polled by Reuters this week expect the Bank of Russia to keep interest rates unchanged on Friday, with inflation's only gradual slowdown preventing the central bank from easing borrowing costs more quickly.

  • Here are the transportation options for the 2024 NFL Draft

    The 2024 NFL Draft is set to bring hundreds of thousands of people into Downtown Detroit for the three-day event on April 25-27, and that means lot of vehicular traffic.

  • Q&A: Labour’s plan for rail reform and the background to nationalisation

    Labour has pledged to nationalise the rail network, claiming it has become a ‘symbol of national decline’.

  • Kim Petras cancels gigs on doctor's orders

    The I Don't Want It At All singer took to social media to announce that she is cancelling her scheduled festival performances this summer. "My buns, I'm devastated to be writing this but I'm going through some health issues and under medical advice I have had to make the hard decision to not perform at festivals this summer," Petras shared. She did not provide details on exactly what health issues she is experiencing. "I love u so much and I'll make it up to you and be back better than ever very soon," she signed off.

  • Green fleet transition faces financial roadblock

    The cost of replacing 41 diesel waste vehicles with electric or hydrogen models proving prohibitive.

  • UPDATE 1-Caterpillar profit rises as higher prices offset easing demand

    Caterpillar posted a rise in quarterly profit on Thursday as it held on to higher prices for its construction equipment as demand eased from last year's boom. Caterpillar has benefited from President Joe Biden's $1 trillion 2021 infrastructure law to upgrade roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. Although the boom from last year has eased it has remained relatively stable, helping Caterpillar hold on to the price increases it launched in the second half of 2023.

  • Vauxhall maker threatens to quit UK market over electric car mandate

    The net zero crackdown on combustion engines could force the maker of Vauxhall to pull out of Britain, its boss has warned.

  • Here’s Why HCI Group (HCI) Rose in Q1

    Bernzott Capital Advisors, an investment management firm, published its “US Small Cap Value Fund” first-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the portfolio gained +8.5% on a net basis, well above R2000V’s advance of +2.9% and above R2500V’s rise of +6.1%. The largest contribution to the […]

  • SNP's power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens collapses

    It follows the government's decision to scrap key climate targets and its response to a review into gender services.

  • Belarus says it thwarted attack on capital by drones launched from Lithuania

    The head of the Belarusian security service said on Thursday it had thwarted an attack on the capital Minsk by drones launched from Lithuania, Russian state news agencies said. There was no immediate comment from NATO-member Lithuania. "The State Security Committee, in cooperation with colleagues from other law enforcement agencies, has recently carried out a number of acute security measures, which made it possible to prevent strikes by combat drones from the territory of Lithuania on objects in Minsk and its suburbs," RIA news agency quoted Belarusian security chief Ivan Tertel as saying.

  • Caterpillar profit rises as higher prices offset easing demand

    Caterpillar has benefited from President Joe Biden's $1 trillion 2021 infrastructure law to upgrade roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. Although the boom from last year has eased it has remained relatively stable, helping Caterpillar hold on to the price increases it launched in the second half of 2023. That has helped the company offset the pressure on margins from an increase in manufacturing costs amid the lingering impact from supply chain constraints and higher steel prices.

  • Former Post Office executive says she never ‘knowingly did anything wrong’

    Angela van den Bogerd gave evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry in central London on Thursday.

  • Shoplifting offences soar to highest level in 20 years, new figures show

    More than 100,000 more shoplifting offences were recorded in 2023 than the previous year, figures reveal