‘Minions & Monsters’ Heading To $13M+ Opening Wednesday At U.S. Box Office

EXCLUSIVE: Illumination/Universal‘s Minions & Monsters is posting an estimated $13.75M opening day — that’s without any previews. The Chris Melandandri produced, Pierre Coffin directed animated movie is the seventh title in the Despicable Me and Minions $5.6 billion global grossing franchise, and it’s easily No. 1 for today.

There’s a lot of runway left in the holiday weekend, especially with July 4th falling on a Saturday, the previous times being 2020, 2009 and 2015 when Independence Day fell on a Saturday. Due to holiday activities, typically there’s a falloff in moviegoing on July 4, but other days such as Friday and Sunday will be high for a family film such as Minions & Monsters.

While Minions & Monsters is posting the fourth best opening Wednesday for an animated movie in July behind 2013’s Despicable Me 2 ($35M), 2024’s Despicable Me 4 ($27.2M) and 2009’s Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($13.79M), the latest Illumination title is the best reviewed ever in the 16-year old franchise at 90% certified fresh. The tracking forecast for Minions & Monsters was $80M, but exhibitor projections were wide between $60M-$90M. Minions & Monsters cost a net $85M before global P&A spend, we understand.

Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 5 we hear is No. 2 for Wednesday with $7M-$8M, for a running cume around $326M in its second week.