Minions: The Rise of Gru Hits $22.5 Million at International Box Office

Illumination’s latest installment in the Despicable Me franchise, Minions: The Rise of Gru, has continued the bullet train momentum of the summer movie season. The Steve Carrell-led prequel has already totaled $22.5 million at the international box office, which includes its early release in Australia as well as 39 other markets’ Wednesday and Thursday hauls. Beyond the land down under, The Rise of Gru especially impressed in Mexico and the Middle East, as it accumulated roughly $4.5 million in limited screenings from those markets alone. The animated adventure also had limited early screenings in the United States this week, which did a pandemic-era record for an animated film’s Thursday previews with $10.75 million, but officially wide releases domestically today.

With a reported budget of around $85 million, Minions: The Rise of Gru looks poised to make back its investment this Fourth of July holiday weekend. Projections have the flick bringing in as much as low nine figures across its four day opening weekend. Compared to fellow summer animated release Lightyear, which debuted to a low $50 million for Disney Pixar standards, Minions 2 has polar opposite momentum following early international numbers and domestic Thursday previews.

After a concerning 2021 summer box office, the film industry has been dropping hit after hit for the past two months. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness soared to a $187.4 million domestic opening, the third-highest debut for a
non-Avengers Marvel Studios release, and went on to rake in $950 million worldwide. Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick took the baton from there, opening to $160 million during its Memorial Day weekend debut. Maverick recently entered the elusive billion dollar club, marking the first time Cruise has seen ten figures in his career. Even Jurassic World: Dominion, despite its less than flattering reviews, has been able to total $759 million internationally in just its first three weeks.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is set eight years after 2015’s Minions and is the fifth installment in the Despicable Me franchise overall. Every entry from this franchise has been a box office juggernaut, as the first four films have totaled over $3.5 billion during their theatrical runs. The highest earner of the lot is The Rise of Gru‘s predecessor, the aforementioned Minions, which brought in $1.16 billion in 2015.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is in theaters today, July 1.