The animation genre is driving early summer box office success, with Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 surpassing Pixar’s Inside Out 2 as the top-grossing film this weekend. Over the past four weeks, these two films have dominated the box office.
Despicable Me 4 earned $122.6M in the five days since its Wednesday opening, while Inside Out 2 has accumulated $533.8M in its 24 days in theaters. This weekend, all films together grossed $156.4M, compared to $130.3M on the same weekend last year when Insidious: The Red Door opened with $33.0M. This marks the fourth consecutive weekend with the box office outperforming the same weekends in 2023. Animated films accounted for 71% of all tickets sold.
Despicable Me 4 is expected to remain in first place next weekend, despite Sony’s romantic comedy Fly Me to the Moon starring Scarlett Johansson. Warner Bros.’ Twisters will likely take the top spot when it releases on July 19th. Exhibitors are thrilled with the results from Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4, especially during this crucial early summer season.
Despicable Me 4 is the sixth feature in the Despicable Me/Minions franchise, created by Illumination and released by Universal. The first five movies grossed $1.6B domestically and $4.7B worldwide. Here’s a breakdown of the box office results for the franchise:
| Title | Release Date | Opening Weekend | Domestic Total | Worldwide Total | Budget | Critics Score | Audience Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minions: The Rise of Gru | 7/1/2022 | $107.0M | $370.2M | $940.2M | $80M | 70% | 89% |
| Despicable Me 2 | 7/3/2013 | $83.5M | $368.1M | $970.8M | $76M | 75% | 85% |
| Minions | 7/10/2015 | $115.7M | $335.0M | $1.2B | $74M | 56% | 49% |
| Despicable Me 3 | 6/30/2017 | $72.4M | $264.6M | $1.0B | $80M | 58% | 53% |
| Despicable Me | 7/9/2010 | $56.3M | $251.6M | $543.3M | $69M | 80% | 83% |
| TOTAL | $1.6B | $4.7B | $379M | ||||
| Despicable Me 4 | 7/3/2024 | $75.0M | TBD | TBD | $100M | 54% | 90% |
REELated:
Despicable Me 2 was the franchise leader, opening on the Wednesday before the 4th of July in 2013 and earning $143.1M in its first five days, with $83.5M during the initial weekend. In comparison, Despicable Me 4 earned $122.6M in its first five days and $75M in its first weekend, making it the fourth highest opening among the six movies in the series. Inside Out 2, by comparison, earned $205.4M in its first five days.
Despicable Me 4 cost more to produce than its predecessors, with a budget of $100M compared to $80M or less for the others. The series has consistently produced high returns on relatively modest production budgets, resulting in substantial profits. The total worldwide gross for the first five films is 12 times greater than their combined budgets. In contrast, recent Disney/Pixar movies have budgets nearing $200M.
Another interesting aspect of the Despicable Me/Minions movies is their significant returns from international markets. On average, international box office revenues make up two-thirds of their worldwide total, compared to an international average of 57% for the top five animated movies of all time.
Despicable Me 4 brings back Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and Agnes and introduces Gru Jr., who creates problems for his dad. Gru’s new nemesis is Maxime Le Mal and his girlfriend Valentina. Chris Renaud directs the film, with Steve Carrell as Gru, Kristen Wiig as Lucy, and newcomers Will Ferrell as Maxime and Sophia Vergara as Valentina. Critics have given it a franchise-low rating of 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences have given it a positive 90%, the highest audience score in the series. It has the potential to become one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, depending on its performance in the coming weeks.
Inside Out 2 continued its impressive run, finishing in second place with $30M in its fourth weekend, a 48% drop despite direct competition from Despicable Me 4. After 24 days, Inside Out 2 has earned $533.8M domestically and $1.173B worldwide. Here’s a 24-day comparison with Incredibles 2, the top-grossing domestic animated film of all time.
Inside Out 2 seems poised to become the top-grossing animated film of all time in the U.S. and Canada, potentially taking the worldwide box office crown as well. Disney’s The Lion King is the current record holder for global sales, having earned $1.663B in 2019. It earned 67% of its sales from international markets, while Inside Out 2 has generated only 55% of its sales internationally, which might hinder its ability to claim the all-time animated crown.
A Quiet Place: Day One finished in third place with $21.0M, a 60% decline. After 10 days, the horror sequel has brought in $94.4M domestically and $175.1M worldwide. Last weekend’s $52.2M opening was the best of the three-film franchise, but this weekend’s drop was much steeper than the 34% drop experienced by the original in its second weekend. Day One‘s domestic total is now $5.6M lower than the original’s $100.0M at this same point in its release.
One advantage for the current movie is its potential to draw higher mid-week audiences, given the height of summer compared to the original’s early spring release after its April 6th opening. A Quiet Place: Day One was produced on a $67M budget, requiring a worldwide gross of approximately $168M to break even.
A24’s latest offering, Maxxxine, took fourth place in its opening weekend with $6.7M. The crime horror film, set in the 1980s, follows aspiring actress and adult film star Maxine Minx as a mysterious killer stalks Hollywood starlets.
This is the third movie in A24’s X series, following X from March 2022 and the prequel Pearl from September 2022. The series, created by Ti West, stars Mia Goth as Maxine Minx, with Bobby Cannavale and Kevin Bacon. The previous films were profitable, low-budget productions: X cost $2M to produce and earned $14.7M at the box office, while Pearl had a $1M budget and sold $9.8M in tickets.
Maxxxine‘s $6.7M opening surpasses the $5M production cost and the opening numbers for X and Pearl. Critics gave it a 75% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences rating it slightly higher at 81%. This should keep the film going for a few more weeks, making it the highest-grossing film in the X series. Despite being conceived as a trilogy, Maxxxine‘s success may tempt A24 and Ti West to extend the series.
In fifth place, Bad Boys: Ride or Die earned $6.6M in its fifth weekend, a 37% decline. After 31 days, the buddy action sequel has grossed $177.3M domestically and $349.0M worldwide. The contest for the top-grossing movie in the series is still too close to call.
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