The new Minions movie is absolutely blowing away records at the box office, finally satisfying the demand from parents to give their kids enjoyable movies.
Woke Disney and Lightyear were hardest hit.
The long July 4th holiday weekend is turning into a box office extravaganza for Hollywood as Minions: The Rise of Gru heads for a huge four-day opening of $127.9 million domestically, according to early estimates. That includes $108.5 million for the three days (that number could shift in either direction when updated numbers are released Monday).
Overseas, the movie will cross $86 million by Sunday for a global booty of $200 million-plus.
Forget about breaking pandemic-era records for a family title; the Illumination and Universal movie will boast one of the top starts ever at the domestic box office for an animated Hollywood tentpole, not adjusted for inflation.
These are absolutely HUGE numbers for the Despicable Me series to put up.
The movie's performance is significant in that it confirms that parents and younger kids are ready to return to the multiplex in droves. Throughout the pandemic, animated films have been considered a challenged genre. It didn't help when Pixar and Disney's Toy Story spinoff Lightyear opened to a tepid $51 million last month before falling off steeply in its sophomore outing (still, Lightyear achieved a milestone Friday when jumping the $100 million mark domestically).
Disney told us that Lightyear's failure had to do with the market not wanting kids' movies right now.
But, apparently, the market is CRAVING kids' movies. They just don't want a "not-at-all-secret gay agenda" to be shoved down their kids' throats.
Disney is finding out quickly that being openly and proudly woke is a great way to lose well over half of the market.
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