‘Minions & Monsters’ Dethrones ‘Toy Story 5’ at the Box Office, But the Wednesday Numbers Tell a More Complicated Story

Illumination’s yellow henchmen have never really needed an introduction at the box office. Six prior entries in the Despicable Me and Minions franchise have collectively pulled in over five and a half billion dollars worldwide, making this one of the most reliable family franchises in modern Hollywood history.

That track record made the arrival of a seventh installment feel like a formality more than a question mark, even with a crowded holiday frame working against it. This year’s Fourth of July lands on a Saturday, the 250th anniversary of American independence, a scheduling quirk that industry watchers had already flagged as a potential drag on moviegoing across the entire weekend.

‘Minions & Monsters’ still managed to claim the top spot at the domestic box office, pulling Toy Story 5 down from its perch after two strong weeks atop the charts. The Illumination release grossed a solid 14.2 million dollars on its Wednesday opening day, according to Deadline’s tracking of the debut.

That number is respectable on its face, especially for a movie opening on a Wednesday rather than a traditional weekend slot. But context matters here, and the context is that this actually represents the lowest Wednesday opening day the Despicable Me and Minions franchise has ever posted, a notable step down from the momentum these films have built since 2010.

For comparison, ‘Despicable Me 4’ opened to 27.2 million dollars on its Wednesday debut back in 2024, more than double what ‘Minions & Monsters’ managed this time around. It is also worth noting this marks the first time a Minions-branded film has ever opened on a Wednesday at all, a release day that had traditionally been reserved specifically for the mainline Despicable Me entries.

Toy Story 5 did not exactly put up a fight for its former top spot, falling off sharply from Tuesday to Wednesday as its second week in theaters wound down. Pixar’s sequel has still crossed the 300 million dollar mark domestically and is closing in on 600 million dollars worldwide, numbers that suggest it will remain a factor at the box office well into the holiday frame even after losing the number one ranking.

‘Minions & Monsters’ did earn an A- CinemaScore from opening night audiences, which ties it with ‘Despicable Me 3’ for the best audience grade the franchise has recorded. The film has also picked up the strongest critical reception of any entry in the series, with reviewers responding well to its 1920s Hollywood setting that follows the Minions rising, falling, and rising again as movie stars before banding together against an invading force of monsters.

Word of mouth heading into the extended holiday weekend has reportedly been softer than what previous entries generated at a similar stage, which matters more than usual given how the calendar is shaping up this year. With Saturday landing on the actual holiday, a day that historically pulls moviegoers away from theaters and toward barbecues and fireworks, industry trackers are watching Friday and Sunday as the real bellwethers for how the five day frame ultimately shakes out.

Current projections point toward something in the neighborhood of 80 million dollars domestically across the full five-day opening, according to Deadline, with some theater chains offering a wider range between 60 and 90 million dollars depending on how the weekend plays out. That would land well below the 123 million dollars ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ pulled in over the same holiday stretch in 2022, and below the 122.6 million dollars ‘Despicable Me 4’ managed in 2024.

Competing for family audience attention this weekend is a genuine wildcard, with the FIFA World Cup knockout rounds and the milestone nature of America’s 250th birthday both pulling potential moviegoers in other directions. Warner Bros’ ‘Supergirl’ is also still in theaters during its second weekend, though that film is bracing for a steep decline after a lackluster debut of its own.

For a franchise that has never really had to sweat a holiday release before, ‘Minions & Monsters’ finds itself in the unfamiliar position of needing the back half of its opening weekend to do some heavy lifting. Whether the Minions can still pull off another billion dollar global run once international markets fully weigh in remains the bigger question hanging over this one.

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