‘Despicable Me 4’ Tops July 4th Weekend

Universal Pictures /Courtesy of the Everett Collection

The Minions are in great shape this holiday season, with “Despicable Me 4” projected to gross $120 million in five days over the July 4 weekend. The sixth installment of Illumination and Universal’s animated series, which opened in 4,428 theaters, earned another $27 million on Friday.

It’s another triumph for the commercially reliable franchise, though it falls significantly behind the previous installment, “Minions: Gru.” Buoyed by the viral “#Gentleminions” trend of dressing up in formalwear to attend screenings, “Minions: Gru” notched the biggest Independence Day weekend debut of all time in 2022, with $123 million domestically over a four-day holiday window.

“Despicable Me 4” is still expected to be one of the biggest Friday-to-Sunday grosses of the year, with $72.4 million projected over the three days. That would be the fourth-best domestic debut of 2024, behind “Inside Out 2” ($154 million), “Dune: Part 2” ($82 million) and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” ($80 million).

It’s a fantastic start for “Despicable Me 4,” which cost $100 million to produce, a fraction of the $200 million budgets typically reserved for animated features from Illumination’s competitors, such as Disney and Pixar. And with a glowing “A” grade from audience research firm Cinema Score, it’s clear that fans of the franchise feel this film lives up to its predecessors. The Minions are a crowd pleaser, and they’ll be in theaters for the rest of the summer.

Also in theaters this weekend, A24’s horror film “MaXXXine” is projected to gross around $7.6 million over three days and previews. That’s a big step up from director Ti West’s debut and star Mia Goth’s previous horror collaborations, “X” ($4.2 million) and “Pearl” ($3.1 million). Both features have gained traction since their 2022 releases, and that’s playing into “MaXXXine’s” box office surge. Reviews have been mostly positive for the ’80s horror flick, in which Goth is joined by an ensemble cast that includes Elizabeth Debicki, Lily Collins, Halsey, Michelle Monaghan, Giancarlo Esposito and Kevin Bacon.

Meanwhile, Angel Studios is back at the box office with the release of “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trout,” a drama about a Texas pastor and his church’s efforts in the foster care system. A year ago, the distributor was the undisputed king of the July 4 box office with the child trafficking thriller “Sound of Freedom.” Rivals are expecting more modest numbers for “Possum Trout,” which is projecting $7 million over its first four days in 2,200 theaters. It earned about $1 million Friday.

Pixar’s Inside Out 2 is still in second place at the box office, despite the dominance of its animated rival Despicable Me 4. The Disney film crossed the $500 million mark in the U.S. on April 4 and earned another $10.6 million on Friday. Its domestic gross is $514.4 million. The animated sequel is expected to lose less than 50% of its revenue this weekend, showing exceptional resilience against summer competition.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” is tiptoeing into third place, with a three-day forecast of $21.3 million after grossing $7 million on Friday. Paramount’s horror prequel will pass $90 million domestically on Sunday, and the $100 million mark will be passed quickly in the coming days.

Sony and Columbia’s blockbuster “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” rounds out the top five, with an additional $6.7 million. After grossing $2.2 million on Friday, the sequel to Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s action film has now surpassed $170 million in the United States.