Weekend Box Office: Minions & Monsters Takes No. 1 with Underwhelming Debut
The animated comedy didn't rake in as much as its predecessors, but it's still a hit for Universal, while Young Washington drew solid numbers over the holiday weekend.
Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day became the 13th film of 2026 to cross $100 million this weekend. Only 20 films did that in 2025. By the beginning of August, we’ll have at least 17, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. That may not be the Universal film you expected us to lead with this weekend celebrating the 250th birthday of our country. But it’s a sign of theatrical box office on the rise. Though the headlines may read differently for Universal, know that the studio still has a solid hit out of what may otherwise feel like a disappointment.
King of the Crop: Minions & Monsters Takes No. 1 with Underwhelming Debut
Combined, the Despicable Me and Minions films have grossed over $5.5 billion across the globe. Despicable Me 3 and the first Minions were over a billion, and every film in the franchise except for its debut have hit over $900 million worldwide. The top 11 films in Universal’s history (sans inflation) belong to either Jurassic Park, Fast & Furious, Super Mario, or Despicable Minions. Oppenheimer is 12th. Minions: The Rise of Gru and Despicable Me 2 are 13th and 14th. In 2010, the debut of Despicable Me turned into the sixth-highest grossing film ever for Universal (it is now 26th.) Minions & Monsters may not end up in the top 50.
Blame July 4th festivities on Saturday. Blame World Cup fever. But don’t blame the filmmakers, who got the highest rating from critics across the entire franchise with a healthy Certified Fresh 91% on the Tomatometer. (The very first Despicable Me was the previous high at 80%.) It certainly doesn’t help when you appeal to their own nostalgia with film history. But maybe a combo of Toy Story 5 fever and a rash of saving a little money for Moana next week led to M&M’s $36.4 million opening weekend, and since Wednesday, its total is at $61.4 million in five days. The very first Despicable Me opened to $56.3 million and had made $72 million in its first five days. Hotel Transylvania 3 Opened a week after July 4 in 2018 to $44.07 million (Fri-Sun) and had made $58.8 million in its first five days. Domestically we could see Minions & Monsters as low as in the $130-140 million range, or maybe as high as $170-180 million.
These numbers may be small compared to the rest of the franchise, but an $85 million production pulling that in, plus the additional $98 million it has already made internationally, is going to be another solid hit for Universal. Over seven films, the Jurassic Park franchise has grossed over $6.82 billion across the world. The Fast and Furious films (including Hobbs & Shaw) have made over $7.32 billion across 11 films. The Super Mario world is over $2.37 billion after just two films. Minions & Monsters is the seventh film in this universe, which is now at $5.56 billion and counting.
Rotten Returns: Supergirl Stumbles Hard in Week Two
The headlines swirled last week over how poorly DC’s Supergirl performed last week. Their Co-CEO Peter Safran was out with a statement last Sunday to express disappointment that it “didn’t meet our box office expectations.” Now here we are 10 days in, and the film is down to $9.6 million in weekend two. That’s a 74% drop, the biggest of the year for a film in over 3,000 theaters. It is also the second-highest (non-pandemic) drop for any DC property behind only Joker: Folie a Deux (-81.4%), higher than The Flash (-72.5%), Batman v Superman* (-69.1%), Shazam! Fury of the Gods (-69.0%), Suicide Squad* (-67.4%), Green Lantern (-66.1%), Man of Steel* (-64.6%), Batman and Robin (-63.3%), Catwoman (-61.5%), and The Dark Knight Rises* (-61.4%).
At least four* of those were falling from $128-166 million opening weekends, and the Joker: Folie a Deux fall to a $7 million second weekend was a straight-up embarrassment. Supergirl is not far behind, as it finds itself in Dark Phoenix territory, which took a 71.5% tumble to $9.3 million in weekend two. And for all the grief given to Masters of the Universe this summer, Supergirl may end up comparable to that film’s $8.92 million second weekend once the Monday estimates come into focus. It looks to finish between $70-80 million domestic. It has only made another $42 million internationally. That is lower than Shazam! Fury of the Gods ($76.4 million) and Blue Beetle ($58.3 million). Even Halle Berry’s Catwoman pulled in $41.9 million back in 2004.
Tales of the Top 10: Young Washington Triumphs for Angel Studios, Disclosure Day Crosses $100 Million
How greatly will Toy Story 5 be affected by going head-to-head with the Minions? The only time Woody, Buzz, and Jessie went up against them was back in 2010, when Toy Story 3 was in its fourth weekend while the very first Despicable Me was just getting started with a $56.3 million opening. The third Toy Story was at $21 million with a 24-day total of over $339 million. Now, 16 years later, Toy Story 5 is at $31 million in its third weekend with a 17-day total of $366.3 million. In other words, it is doing just fine, especially with $764 million across the world. Domestically, that is 23rd all time behind Finding Dory ($372.1 million), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($372 million), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($367.4 million), and ahead of The Dark Knight Rises ($353.9 million). Toy Story 5’s third weekend is a bit behind Ultron’s $38.8 million and Rises’ $35.7 million. That suggests an estimate around the $450 million area, which would put it in the top 30 domestic releases of all time. Now let’s see how families react when Moana hits next weekend.
Young Washington does not star Nate Bargatze as the architect of American culture and language (IYKYK). Instead, William Franklyn-Miller stars as the future first president of the United States, and people showed up for America’s 250th birthday to celebrate him. It’s quite a celebration for Angel Studios as well, as the film opened to a solid $20.8 million, their second biggest ever behind last December’s animated David ($22 million) and ahead of the infamous Sound of Freedom ($19.6 million). While David and The King of Kings grossed $80 million and $60 million, respectively, Young Washington will be their second-highest live-action release. This year’s Kevin James comedy, Solo Mio, made $25.7 million while Sound of Freedom grossed over $184 million.
Some might label Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day as somewhat of a disappointment. Maybe that is why we led with the reminder that an original film from one of our greatest filmmakers could still be a draw in an era of IP (that he certainly has his share of) and it can still gross hundreds of millions across the world. It lost 655 theaters and fell just 27% to $6 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its 24-day total to nearly $105 million. The $115 million production is now over $216 million globally. It may still be in the red when it leaves theaters but, Spielberg is just the third living filmmaker to release a $100 million grosser over the age of 75, along with Clint Eastwood and Ridley Scott. In their storied careers, Clint has had six $100 million grossers, while Ridley has had eight. Disclosure Day is the 17th of Spielberg’s career.
Obsession hit VOD this weekend and officially announced its arrival on physical media (July 14). Maybe that’s why it took its biggest tumble to date (-45%). People are still experiencing it in theaters, though, with another $5.3 million this week to bring its total to over $245 million. After 52 days of release, it has grossed more than two and a half times Focus’ top-grossing domestic release ever (Downton Abbey). Pundits are already throwing around Inde Navarette’s name for awards consideration. It appears likely to hang on to be one of the 10 highest-grossing films of the year. There just are not enough superlatives for this story. And it has made $403 million globally.
The old gray mare just ain’t what she used to be, but it can still kick you in the head if you let it. Jackass: Best and Last is the latest big-screen comedy to possibly fall victim to the “let’s wait until its on streaming” mindset, especially as word got out that it’s half a clip show with certain bits that actually could be seen at home right now. Its second weekend fell 68% to $2.7 million, which brings its 10-day total to $14.6 million. The $10 million production is going to be just fine, though Paramount should have had more faith in critics and screened it for more than just a small fraction of the country the day before release. They have given the final film the best score in the franchise with a Certified Fresh 89%.
Scary Movie (2026) makes its final appearance in the top 10 this week. Like last year’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle, it only needed five weeks in the top 10 to make $100 million, though the other two did it in just 13 and 10 days, respectively, as opposed to Scary’s 21. Word of mouth apparently spread pretty quickly on this one, and we’ll see if they return as quickly for another installment. But they got their $219+ million worldwide, including $106.2 million on the domestic side after adding $1.1 million this weekend. It is going to be the second-highest grossing film in the series after the 2000 original ($278.0 million) and ahead of Scary Movie 3 ($220.6 million).
After a successful platform launch in seven theaters last weekend, A24 expanded Olivia Wilde’s The Invite into 28 theaters. This has been a longstanding strategy of the company. While it has proven effective with films like Moonlight and Lady Bird during awards season and their first big breakout hit, Everything Everywhere All At Once, it’s been a different story during the summer. In recent years, Eighth Grade, The Farewell, and Past Lives went from four theaters to between 26-35 in their second weeks. Last year’s Friendship went from six to 60. That and Past Lives got over a million dollars in weekend two and all of them finished with grosses between $11-18 million total. The Invite quadrupled its theater count this weekend and snuck into the top 10 with $801,000 for a $28,597 per-theater average. That is within the range of those summer platforms from the low of Past Lives ($20,066) to the high of The Farewell ($32,723). If A24 sticks to a similar expansion, perhaps The Invite can get into that $11-18 million range as well.
A24 also has Backrooms making another $3.3 million this weekend, bringing its total to just over $190 million. It is still hanging onto its pace over Superman Returns from 20 years ago, which keeps $200 million within its grasp. The promotion with the additional footage this weekend was certainly used as an added sweetener to help hit that milestone. If it does, it is going to crawl over, but at already $356 million worldwide, it’s an incredible accomplishment no matter what side it lands on.
On The Vine: Moana Sets Sail While the Evil Dead Burn
As mentioned above, Disney’s live-action Moana hits theaters next week to further vie for the family dollar. Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as Maui, but in the flesh this time. Will the film be closer to last year’s Lilo & Stitch numbers or to that of The Little Mermaid? The horror crowd gets Evil Dead Burn as well, which moved in the wake of The Odyssey switching from July 24 to next weekend. In limited release, Sony Classics has David Wain’s Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass with Zoey Deutsch. The Sundance comedy is 82% on the Tomatometer.
Full List of Box Office Results: July 3-5
- Minions & Monsters – $36.4 million ($61.4 million total)
- Toy Story 5 – $31.0 million ($366.3 million total)
- Young Washington – $20.8 million ($20.8 million total)
- Supergirl – $9.6 million ($58.4 million total)
- Disclosure Day – $6.0 million ($105.3 million total)
- Obsession – $5.3 million ($245.3 million total)
- Backrooms – $3.3 million ($190.4 million total)
- Jackass: Best and Last – $2.7 million ($14.6 million total)
- Scary Movie – $1.1 million ($106.2 million total)
- The Invite – $801,000 ($1.3 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by ©Universal Pictures
