🍿 International Box Office Saves Minions

In the US and Canada, the five-day holiday weekend (aligned with the July 4th celebrations) brought in $62 million, with $37 million earned during the traditional three-day window. This marks the weakest opening weekend in the history of the Despicable Me / Minions universe. However, the international box office completely offset the domestic decline, delivering $85.1 million over the weekend. Driven by early previews, the film’s cumulative worldwide gross reached $160.6 million across 72 regions, with $147.1 million generated during the global weekend frame.

Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, Universal’s President of International Distribution, highlighted the strong critical acclaim—the highest among all 17 Illumination films—and expressed confidence in the movie’s long-term box office prospects. This resilience comes despite external headwinds, including a record-breaking heatwave in Europe that has forced cinemas to aggressively promote their air conditioning, and live broadcasts of the FIFA World Cup. The latter significantly impacted Hispanic audiences in Mexico and the US, even though Hispanic moviegoers still accounted for 37% of the domestic box office.

Key International Market Highlights:

• China: Secured the top spot with $16.4 million (including previews) across 30,000 screens, performing on par with Despicable Me 4 and outpacing pandemic-era installments. It easily outperformed the local comedy Keep Real ($10.4 million).
• Germany: Captured 1st place with $6.4 million, commanding a 35% market share.
• UK and Ireland: Debuted with $5.8 million across 2,500 screens.
• Mexico: Grossed $5.5 million to finish 2nd in the market, losing ground to World Cup broadcasts.
• Vietnam: Achieved a resounding success with $2.5 million. This marks the biggest opening for an MPA (Motion Picture Association) release this year and the third-largest animated launch in the country’s history.

Its chief rival in the family segment, Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 5, firmly held onto the second spot in the global rankings. In its third weekend, the film pulled in another $100 million globally ($69.3 million overseas and $31 million in the US), driving its total box office haul to $764.3 million. Additionally, the fifth installment debuted in Japan with a $14.6 million launch, setting an all-time opening weekend record for an MPA release in the country.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ blockbuster Supergirl is facing a major box office disaster. Saddled with a production budget estimated between $170 million and $186 million, the film stalled just short of the $100 million milestone, with a cumulative total of $99 million. Its second global weekend yielded a dismal $18 million, plagued by a 77% drop in the US. This decline is sharper than The Flash (-73%), though slightly ahead of DC’s historic low set by Joker: Folie à Deux (-81%).

In contrast, Universal’s thriller Obsession is demonstrating remarkable staying power in its eighth week of release, pocketing an additional $17.68 million to push its total gross to $403.3 million. A24’s horror feature Backrooms expanded its global cume to $356 million by its sixth weekend. Spielberg’s sci-fi epic Disclosure Day accumulated $216.6 million in its fourth week, while the biopic Michael is now within arm’s reach of the coveted one-billion-dollar milestone, with its current global tally standing at $991.4 million.