Despicable Me 4 dominates the box office and extends the reign of the minions

The latest installment in the animated franchise, Despicable Me 4, led the box office over the holiday weekend, bringing in $75 million in ticket sales from Friday to Sunday and $122.6 million from its opening on Wednesday. This success further extends the considerable reign of the Minions, possibly the highest-grossing force in movies today, and continues Hollywood's summer streak.

Although global ticket sales are down more than 40% from pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels, cinemas have recently seen a string of hits. Sony's Bad Boys Ride or Die and Pixar's Inside Out 2 exceeded expectations, with 1 billion tickets sold worldwide. Last weekend, Paramount's prequel A Quiet Place Day One also exceeded expectations.

The Despicable Me franchise, which includes two sequels and two Minions spin-offs, has consistently grossed around a billion. The previous four films earned between $939 million and $1.26 billion worldwide. This success has given Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri one of the most enviable records in Hollywood.

Despicable Me 4, directed by Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage, returns the voice cast led by Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig, and doubles down on the Minion mayhem. Despite mixed reviews, the franchise remains a beloved staple in the film industry, especially in animation.

Currently, family films are driving the box office. Despicable Me 4 performed well, despite the still considerable pulling power of Inside Out 2. In its fourth weekend of release, the Pixar sequel added another $30 million domestically and 78.3 million dollars abroad. With $1.22 billion in ticket sales to date, Inside Out 2 is easily the biggest hit of the year and is quickly climbing the all-time ranks for animated releases.

Last week's top new movie, A Quiet Place Day One, fell to third place with $21 million in its second weekend. The film has collected $178.2 million worldwide in two weeks. This string of hits has led some studios to raise their forecasts for the summer movie season, with a likelihood of more than $3.4 billion.