Minions did exceptionally well over the fourth of July holiday weekend box office.
Minions: The Rise of Gru, the latest film in the Despicable Me franchise, earned $125 million opening weekend, according to data from Universal.
The film’s debut set the record for most successful opening over the July 4th holiday weekend. The previous record holder was Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which earned $115 million in 2011.
Market analyst suggest the new record may be an indication that families will increasing attend theaters even though the world is still dealing with the global pandemic.
“Families want to be in theaters,” Jim Orr-Universal’s president of domestic theatrical distribution-said to CNN. “They want the social event of it all.”
Minions was supposed to release in 2020, but had significant delays due to the pandemic. While many new films went to streaming services over the past two years, Universal took a chance and released it in theaters even though it was difficult to project if it would succeed.
“A knockout performance by Minions: The Rise of Gru may not have been guaranteed, given the less-than-stellar results for some recent family films,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, explained to CNN. “But the undeniable appeal of those silly Minions contained in a perfectly executed movie-theater-only confection was pure cinematic catnip for kids and parents.”
Film industry experts are optimistic about this weekend as well, as the latest Marvel film-Thor: Love and Thunder– will debut in theaters and may set a new record.
