Minions: The Rise of Gru Breaks Records With $128 Million Opening Weekend

By Jamie Lovett - July 3, 2022 12:59 pm EDT

Minions: The Rise of Gru is will break records during its opening weekend at the box office. The Minions sequel (the fifth film in the Despicable Me franchise overall, already the highest-grossing animated film franchise in box office history) will earn $109 million over its first three days and just shy of $128 million over the four-day Fourth of July holiday weekend. That haul is enough to surpass Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($115.9 million in 2011 to become the biggest July 4th opening of all time. Minions: The Rise of Gru is also surpassing worldwide expectations as well and is likely to cross $200 million in its opening weekend.

Minions: The Rise of Gru has garnered respectable reviews from critics (and some less traditional reviews from non-critics). It has a 71% fresh score on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Its critical consensus on the site reads, "The Minions' antic shenanigans are beginning to grate despite this sequel's injection of retro chic, although this loony marathon of gags will still delight young children."

While Minions: The Rise of Gru is sitting on the top of the chart with its record-setting opening, it's looking like a good weekend for the box office overall. Viewers are also heading out to theaters to see Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, and Jurassic World Dominion.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is playing in theaters now. The complete list of top 10 films at the box office this weekend follows.

1. Minions: The Rise of Gru

Opening Weekend
Total: $127.9 million

In the 1970s, young Gru tries to join a group of supervillains called the Vicious 6 after they oust their leader -- the legendary fighter Wild Knuckles. When the interview turns disastrous, Gru and his Minions go on the run with the Vicious 6 hot on their tails. Luckily, he finds an unlikely source for guidance -- Wild Knuckles himself -- and soon discovers that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.

Kyle Balda directed Minions: The Rise of Gru. The film's voice cast includes Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, and Alan Arkin

2. Top Gun: Maverick

Week Six
Weekend: $32,5 million
Total: $570.9 million

After more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. Training a detachment of graduates for a special assignment, Maverick must confront the ghosts of his past and his deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who choose to fly it.

Joseph Kosinski directs Top Gun: Maverick from a screenplay written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie. The film stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer.

3. Elvis

Week Two
Weekend: $23 million
Total: $72.3 million

From his rise to fame to his unprecedented superstardom, rock 'n' roll icon Elvis Presley maintains a complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker, over the course of 20 years. Central to Presley's journey and happiness is one of the most influential people in his life -- Priscilla.

Baz Luhrmann directs Elvis from a screenplay he co-wrote with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. The film stars Austin Butler as Elvis, with Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Luke Bracey, Natasha Bassett, David Wenham, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Xavier Samuel, and Kodi Smit-McPhee

4. Jurassic World Dominion

Week Four
Weekend: $19.2 million
Total: $335.3 million

Four years after the destruction of Isla Nublar, dinosaurs now live and hunt alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history's most fearsome creatures.

Colin Trevorrow directed Jurassic World Dominion from a screenplay he co-wrote with Emily Carmichael, based on a story by Trevorrow and Derek Connolly. The film stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, BD Wong, Omar Sy, Isabella Sermon, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, Campbell Scott, Scott Haze, and Dichen Lachman.

5. The Black Phone

Week Two
Weekend: $14.6 million
Total: $49.7 million

Finney Shaw is a shy but clever 13-year-old boy who's being held in a soundproof basement by a sadistic, masked killer. When a disconnected phone on the wall starts to ring, he soon discovers that he can hear the voices of the murderer's previous victims -- and they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney.

Scott Derrickson directed The Black Phone from a screenplay he co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill, based on the 2004 short story by Joe Hill. The film stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, and Ethan Hawke.

6. Lightyear

lightyear-box-office-estimates-opening-weekend-disney-pixar-movie.jpg

Week Three
Weekend: $8.1 million
Total: $106.9 million

Legendary space ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside ambitious recruits Izzy, Mo, Darby, and his robot companion, Sox. As this motley crew tackles their toughest mission yet, they must learn to work together as a team to escape the evil Zurg and his dutiful robot army that are never far behind.

Angus MacLane directed Lightyear from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jason Headley. The film's voice cast includes Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, James Brolin, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, Uzo Aduba, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

7. Mr. Malcolm's List

Opening Weekend
Total: $1.03 million

In 19th-century England, a wealthy, young lady named Julia engages in courtship with Mr. Malcolm, a mysterious, wealthy suitor, unaware that he has a list of qualities required of a future wife.

Emma Holly Jones directed Mr. Malcolm's List from a screenplay by Suzanne Allain adapting Allain's novel of the same name. The film stars Freida Pinto, Sope Dirisu, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ashley Park, Zawe Ashton, and Theo James.

8. Everything Everywhere All at Once

Week 15
Weekend: $673,000
Total: $67.1 million

When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, an unlikely hero must channel her newfound powers to fight bizarre and bewildering dangers from the multiverse as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert directed Everything Everywhere All at Once. The film stars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

9. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

doctor-strange-2-multiverse-of-madness-disney-plus-marvel.jpg — (Photo: Marvel Studios)

Week Nine
Weekend: $482,000
Total: $410.6 million

Dr. Stephen Strange casts a forbidden spell that opens a portal to the multiverse. However, a threat emerges that may be too big for his team to handle.

Sam Raimi directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness from a screenplay written by Michael Waldron. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, alongside Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Rachel McAdams.

10. Jug Jugg Jeeyo

Week Two
Weekend: $375,600
Total: $1.5 million

Two couples from different generations confront their issues after marriage.

Raj Mehta directed Jug Jugg Jeeyo. The film stars Neetu Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Kiara Advani, Manish Paul, and Prajakta Koli.