Over the Fourth of July weekend, Minions: The Rise of Gru, from Illumination, is expected to break box office records. Following its opening day revenue of $48 million, which included $10.75 million from Thursday previews, the animated prequel to the popular Despicable Me spinoff series is projected to earn $129.2 million for the extended four-day weekend and $109 million across three days.
In contrast, the first Minions movie generated $115 million in its first three days of release, which Rise of Gru may surpass once the weekend is passed. The movie has already outpaced comparable Fourth of July releases including Despicable Me 3 ($99 million in 2017), Spider-Man 2 ($115 million in 2004), and Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($115 million in 2011).
Rise of Gru is shattering expectations; the movie was anticipated to debut to an opening weekend of between $65 million and $75 million. In fact, this is the biggest opening for an animated film since 2019’s Frozen 2, which shows that after encouraging results by Sing 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and The Bad Guys, families are finally comfortable returning to theatres to see children’s movies.
A high bar has been set by the Despicable Me franchise, with two of the last four releases grossing over $1 billion globally. Rise of Gru is anticipating a $202 million global debut, which should put it well on the path to enjoying comparable success.
Minions: The Rise of Gru, which is set in the 1970s, falls chronologically between Minions and Despicable Me. Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and a brand-new Minion with braces named Otto (Pierre Coffin) are among the Minions who responded to Gru’s want ad and are now assisting their mini-boss in creating his very first basement lair, creating his very first arsenal of super weapons, and executing his very first super scheme. But Gru is prepared for the spotlight. He is prepared to join the legendary supervillain group Vicious 6, and he is very certain that this is a step he must do alone, without the assistance of the Minions.