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Minions: The Rise Of Gru's Record Breaking Box Office Explained
Minions: The Rise of Gru, the 5th movie in the Despicable Me franchise, has broken several box office records during its July 4th opening weekend.

Minions: The Rise Of Gru's Record Breaking Box Office Explained

Minions: The Rise of Gru has already broken an impressive record at the box office, partially with the help of an online trend. Serving as the fifth installment among the Despicable Me movies, 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru is another prequel that follows the iconic yellow creatures as they begin to work for the rising supervillain child, Gru (Steve Carell). As the Minions and Gru travel back to the 1970s, the up-and-coming evil-doers embark on a disastrous journey when an interview to join a league of supervillains goes wrong.

After several years of box office concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the streaming wars, and a shift in reliable moviegoer demographics, summer 2022 has marked a highly optimistic trend for theaters. Kicking off the season, Top Gun: Maverick broke numerous box office records, with the action film’s major feat establishing it as the second movie since 2019 to earn $1 billion at the theaters. Jurassic World Dominion arrived soon after with an impressive box office despite its negative reviews, followed by Pixar’s Lightyear opening to a disappointing box office haul. However, Lightyear’s biggest competition, Minions: The Rise of Gru, has cleaned up in theaters for an outstanding 4th of July holiday weekend opening, proving that it’s not all animated films that are suffering.

Minions: The Rise of Gru’s incredible box office success follows the trend set by previous installments in the Despicable Me franchise. Despicable Me earned over $543 million at the worldwide box office, followed by Despicable Me 2 bringing in over $970 million, Minions (2015) over $1.159 billion, and Despicable Me 3 (2017) approximately $1.035 billion. With Minions: The Rise of Gru already breaking a box office record during its opening weekend, Despicable Me is increasing its lead as the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time.

How Much Minions: The Rise Of Gru Has Made At The Box Office

During the animated film’s 4th of July opening weekend, Minions 2 has earned over $127 million at the domestic box office. Minions: The Rise of Gru has set the record of achieving the biggest July 4th opening weekend ever, surpassing the previous record-holder of Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), which brought in a 4-day total of $115.9 million. At the worldwide box office, Minions: The Rise of Gru has made over $202 million over 3 days, which establishes it as the highest opening for a kids and family movie during the pandemic era. After only its opening weekend, Minions: The Rise of Gru is only $63 million behind the total domestic gross of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, indicating that the Despicable Me prequel will become the highest-grossing kids’ movie of 2022 in no time.

Why Minions: The Rise Of Gru’s Box Office Is So Good

Following the record-breaking box office performance of Top Gun: Maverick, audiences proved that the theatrical market could finally see success beyond the expected MCU projects. While kids’ movies haven’t been a reliable success in theaters during the pandemic era, Minions: The Rise of Gru‘s box office is setting the precedent for this to no longer be the case. Whereas Lightyear was expected to soar at the box office, the Pixar movie had an underwhelming theatrical performance – though it’s been speculated that this is partially due to its upcoming Disney+ streaming release. On the other hand, families have decided on a theatrical experience in order to enjoy the newest Despicable Me installment, as Minions: The Rise of Gru’s streaming release date hasn’t been confirmed yet.

The movie’s premiere window also added a significant boost to its box office success, as the 4th of July weekend means families are looking for a way to enjoy the holiday while kids are out of school. Additionally, Minions: The Rise of Gru faced no significant competition during its box office opening, with its biggest challenger, Thor: Love and Thunder, arriving on July 8, 2022. It also must be mentioned that an online trend widely contributed to Minions: The Rise of Gru’s box office success in terms of its slightly older demographics. “The Gentleminions” meme trend primarily sees teenage and adolescent boys dressing up in suits as they cheer loudly at the theatrical showings of Minions: The Rise of Gru – although many videos have shown the Minions 2 Gentleminion meme followers being removed from the screenings.

Related: Minions: The Rise Of Gru Voice Cast Guide: What The Actors Look Like IRL

How Much Money Will Minions: The Rise Of Gru Make?

Minions: The Rise of Gru’s opening weekend has already exceeded that of 2015’s Minions movie, which earned $115 million over its 3-day opening. Minions went on to make $1.159 billion at the box office to become the Despicable Me franchise’s highest-grossing film, which means Minions: The Rise of Gru is on track to repeat such success. If Minions 2 can maintain its box office prowess amid heavier summer blockbuster competition, the animated movie could very likely become the second film of 2022 to join the billion-dollar club. Despicable Me 3 opened during the July 4th weekend in 2017 to a $99 million domestic holiday opening, which Minions: The Rise of Gru has already beat. The 2017 Despicable Me movie went on to earn $1.035 billion at the box office, further suggesting that Minions: The Rise of Gru has a fighting chance to near the $1 billion mark by the end of its theatrical run.