The animation genre is powering the early summer box office, with Illumination’s DESPICABLE ME 4 overtaking Pixar’s INSIDE OUT 2 as the top-grossing movie this weekend. The two films have led for the past four weeks, with DESPICABLE ME 4 earning $122.6M in the five days since it opened last Wednesday and INSIDE OUT 2 earning $533.8M in the 24 days it has played in theatres.
All films this weekend grossed $156.4M, compared with $130.3M last year on this same weekend when INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR opened with $33.0M. This continues a streak of four weekends with the current year’s box office higher than the corresponding weekends in 2023. The animated films accounted for a weighty 71% of all tickets sold.
DESPICABLE ME 4 will most likely hold on to first place next weekend as well, despite Sony opening its romantic comedy FLY ME TO THE MOON starring Scarlett Johansson. Warner Bros.’ TWISTERS will likely take over the top spot when it touches down in the middle of the month on July 19th. For now, exhibitors are cheering the results from INSIDE OUT and DESPICABLE ME, at a key point in the early summer season.
DESPICABLE ME 4 is the sixth feature in the DESPICABLE ME/ MINIONS franchise, created by Illumination and released by Universal. The first five movies in this highly successful series have grossed $1.6B domestically and $4.7B worldwide. The following chart details the box office results for the franchise.
DESPICABLE ME FRANCHISE HISTORY
- MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU (7/1/2022) – Opening Domestic $107.0M, Total Domestic $370.2M, Total Worldwide $940.2M, Budget $80M, RT Critics/Audience 70%/89%
- DESPICABLE ME 2 (7/3/2013) – Opening Domestic $83.5M, Total Domestic $368.1M, Total Worldwide $970.8M, Budget $76M, RT Critics/Audience 75%/85%
- MINIONS (7/10/2015) – Opening Domestic $115.7M, Total Domestic $335.0M, Total Worldwide $1.2B, Budget $74M, RT Critics/Audience 56%/49%
- DESPICABLE ME 3 (6/30/2017) – Opening Domestic $72.4M, Total Domestic $264.6M, Total Worldwide $1.0B, Budget $80M, RT Critics/Audience 58%/53%
- DESPICABLE ME (7/9/2010) – Opening Domestic $56.3M, Total Domestic $251.6M, Total Worldwide $543.3M, Budget $69M, RT Critics/Audience 80%/83%
- DESPICABLE ME 4 (7/3/2024) – Opening Domestic $75.0M, Budget $100M, RT Critics/Audience 54%/90%
DESPICABLE ME 2 has been the franchise leader until now, also opening on the Wednesday before the 4th of July in 2013. It earned $143.1M in its first five days, of which $83.5M came in during its initial weekend.
By comparison, DESPICABLE ME 4 earned $122.6M in its first five days after its Wednesday opening and $75M in its first weekend. This gives DESPICABLE ME 4 the fourth-highest opening among the six movies in the series. By comparison, INSIDE OUT 2 earned $205.4M in its first five days, from Friday to Wednesday.
DESPICABLE ME 4 cost more to produce than earlier films, with a budget of $100M compared to $80M or less for the others. One strength of the series is its ability to produce high returns on relatively modest production budgets, resulting in sizeable profits for all involved.
The total worldwide gross for the first five films has come in at 12 times greater than the total of their budgets. By contrast, recent Disney/Pixar movies have budgets approaching $200M.
Another interesting dynamic with the DESPICABLE ME/MINIONS movies is that they have relatively high returns from international markets. On average, their box office in markets outside North America adds up to two-thirds of the worldwide total, compared with an international average of 57% for the top five animated movies of all time.
DESPICABLE ME 4 welcomes back Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and Agnes and introduces Gru Jr. as the newest member of the family, who is determined to create problems for his dad. Gru’s new nemesis is Maxime Le Mal and his girlfriend Valentina. Chris Renaud directs the film, reprising his earlier successes with DESPICABLE ME and DESPICABLE ME 2.
The cast is led by Steve Carrell as Gru with Kristen Wiig as Lucy. They are joined by newcomers Will Ferrell as Maxime and Sophia Vergara as Valentina. The film has been poorly received by critics, who have given it a series-low rating of 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. On the other hand, moviegoers have given it a positive 90% score, which is a franchise-high score.
It has the potential to become one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, depending on its performance in subsequent weeks. Based on a successful start, we expect it to hold up well throughout the summer.
INSIDE OUT 2 continued its impressive run with a second-place finish, earning $30M in its fourth weekend. This was a drop of only 48%, despite direct competition from DESPICABLE ME 4 for the same family audience. After 24 days, INSIDE OUT 2 has earned $533.8M domestically and $1.173B worldwide. Here is a 24-day comparison with INCREDIBLES 2, the top-grossing domestic animated film of all time.
BATTLE FOR THE HIGHEST-GROSSING DOMESTIC ANIMATED FILM OF ALL TIME – 24-DAY COMPARISON
- INCREDIBLES 2 (6/15/2018) – 3-Day $182.7M, 10-Day $349.8M, 17-Day $440.6M, 24-Day $503.8M, Total $608.6M
- INSIDE OUT 2 (6/14/2024) – 3-Day $154.2M, 10-Day $355.2M, 17-Day 469.3M, 24-Day $533.8M
INSIDE OUT 2 seems well on its way to becoming the top-grossing animated film of all time in the U.S. and Canada, and may even take over the crown for worldwide box office. Disney’s THE LION KING is the current record holder for global sales, having earned $1.663B in its 2019 run.
It earned the lion’s share (pun intended) of its sales from international markets, accounting for 67% of its worldwide total. INSIDE OUT 2 has generated only 55% of its sales internationally, which may wind up holding INSIDE OUT 2 back from taking the all-time animated crown.
A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE finished in third place with $21.0M, a decline of 60%. After 10 days, the horror sequel has brought in $94.4M domestic and $175.1M worldwide. Last weekend’s $52.2M opening was the best of the three-film franchise.
However, this weekend’s drop for DAY ONE was much steeper than the 34% drop experienced by the original on its second weekend. DAY ONE’s domestic total is now $5.6M lower than the $100.0M earned by the original at this same point in its release.
One advantage for the current movie is that it has the potential to draw higher mid-week audiences than the original, since it is currently the height of summer instead of the original’s early spring schedule after its April 6th opening. A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE was produced on a $67M budget, making it necessary for the film to earn a worldwide gross of approximately $168M to break even.
A24’s latest offering MAXXXINE took fourth place in its opening weekend, with a total of $6.7M. The crime horror film with a strong R rating goes back in time to the 1980s, when aspiring actress and adult film star Maxine Minx finally got her big break. Unfortunately, a mysterious killer is stalking Hollywood starlets and threatens to expose her sinister past.
This is the third movie in A24’s X series, following the original X from March 2022 and the prequel PEARL which was released only six months later in September 2022. The series was created by filmmaker Ti West. Mia Goth reprises her role as Maxine Minx, with costars Bobby Cannavale and, of all people, Kevin Bacon.
Both previous outings were profitable, low-budget movies with X costing the tiny $2M to produce and earning $14.7M at the box office, while PEARL had a miniscule budget of $1M and sold $9.8M in tickets. In its first three days, MAXXXINE’s $6.7M has already surpassed the $5M spent on making the film and the opening numbers for X at $4.2M and PEARL at $3.2M.
Critics have given it an OK 75% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences rating it slightly higher at 81%. This should be enough to keep the film going for a few more weeks and make it the highest-grossing film in the X series. Even though the X movies were originally conceived as a trilogy, MAXXXINE’s success will tempt A24 and TI West to find a way to extend the series.
In fifth place, BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE earned $6.6M in its fifth weekend, a decline of only 37%. After 31 days, the buddy action sequel has grossed $177.3M domestically and $349.0M worldwide. The contest for a top-grossing movie in the series is still too close to call.
BAD BOYS SERIES LEADER AFTER 31 DAYS
- BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (1/17/2020) – 3-Day $62.5M, 10-Day $120.7M, 17-Day $148.1M, 24-Day $166.3M, 31-Day $181.6M, Total $206.3M
- BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE (6/7/2024) – 3-Day $56.5M, 10-Day $113.0M, 17-Day $146.9M, 24-Day $165.3M, 31-Day $177.3M
WHERE ARE WE AS OF 7/4/2024
After 26 weeks, the 2024 year-to-date box office stands at 80% compared to the same period from 2023 and 64% of the total at this time from 2019.