Entertainment News

'Minions & Monsters' wins July Fourth with $36.4M, a franchise low, just ahead of 'Toy Story 5'

Minions & Monsters, the seventh film in the Despicable Me franchise, topped the North American box office over the July Fourth holiday weekend with an estimated $36.4 million from Friday to Sunday, according to studio estimates reported by AP. The Universal and Illumination release opened on Wednesday and made about $61.4 million in its first five days, and AP put its worldwide debut week at $160 million.

The win was narrow. Toy Story 5, which AP called a juggernaut, came second with an estimated $31 million. The new historical drama Young Washington, about George Washington's service in the French and Indian War, opened third with $20.8 million, and Supergirl fell 74% to just under $10 million in fourth.

AP said the weekend, which fell on the United States' 250th birthday, was down about 24% from the same weekend in 2025, but that the summer season as a whole was running nearly 12% ahead of last year. Low-budget Gen-Z hits Obsession and Backrooms also helped the market.

How each outlet framed it

• AP — a holiday horse race: Minions barely ahead of Pixar, with Washington as the patriotic surprise.
• Screen International — the franchise-low US debut, and Young Washington soaring.
• The Statesman (India) — the weakest US opening in the franchise's history, offset by nearly $160 million worldwide.

What we don't know yet: AP's report did not give the film's budget, so it is too early to say how the franchise-low start will affect its final profit.