"Minions" Dethrones "Jurassic World" from #1 Spot

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: Minions Mop Up
by Keith Simanton
July 12, 2015


Families flocking to Minions upset the balance in the epic battle between dinosaurs and feelings. Universal's "Minions", the third installment in their Despicable Me franchise, opened to #1 with $115.2M in estimated domestic grosses, with a sturdy average of $26,785 in 4,301 theaters.

Internationally, the film rolled out in 30 additional territories (it was already in 26) and made $124.3M, rolling up into an international total of $280.5M and a worldwide total of $395.7M.



That $115.2M domestic take made Minions the second biggest animated opening of all time as it passed 2004's Shrek 2 with $108M ($919.8M worldwide cume) and 2010's Toy Story 3 with $110.3M ($1.06B worldwide cume).

The Minions couldn't catch up to Shrek the Third, however, which opened with $121.6M ($799M worldwide cume) in 2007.



Minions can reassure itself though as it claimed the title of highest opening for an animated 3-D film of all time and with its massive $46.2M Friday, the biggest animated opening day ever.

No matter the placement on lists, it's another massive win for Universal who, it seems, can do no wrong in 2015. On July 8th the company crossed $3B in international grosses, the fastest any studio has reached that milestone, crushing the record set by 20th Century Fox in October of 2014.

This also marks the first time in Universal's 103-year history that the studio has reached $3 billion at the international box office.







Down at the other end of the box-office scale The Gallows stayed right with the tracking as the R-rated horror flick made $10M in 2,720 venues. It has a "C" on CinemaScore.

Self/Less came in under estimates, with Gramercy stating it will claim $5.4M this weekend, making $2,294K per theater in 2,353 venues. Ryan Reynolds fortunately has the ecstatic reaction to the Deadpool trailer at Comic-Con to suave his recent career pains.







In holdovers Terminator Genisys fell off -49.7% from its disappointing July 4th opening weekend take for $13.7M in 3,783 locations. It has a domestic cume of $68.7M.

In the international markets, critical for the furthering of this franchise, Genisys added 14 territories this weekend including Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain and grossed $47.3M from the 60 markets.

The cume is now $156.1M in overseas coin after two weekends.



For Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose Terminator Genisys could not find room in the crowded market this summer, there might a sense of deja vu. In 1993 his big-budget bust, Last Action Hero had its lunch eaten by the original Jurassic Park, when it debuted a week after the Steven Spielberg-directed smash sucked all the money out of the June cineplex tills.

Last Action Hero ended up grossing $50M domestically, $87.2 overseas with a worldwide cume of $137.2M. Jurassic Park ended up grossing $402.5M domestically, $626.7M overseas and $1.02B worldwide.

It would be a hard lesson to forget. You have to wonder if Arnold brought that up when they set Genisys's release date.







Magic Mike XXL only dropped off -25% making $9.64M in 3,376 theaters (it made $12.85M last weekend).

The original Magic Mike dropped off -60% its second weekend, though it debuted much, much higher than its sequel, opening at $39.1M with a second weekend of $15.6.







Inside Out, fell -43% on its fourth weekend, for a $17.108M take in 3,644 locations.

Jurassic World fell only -38% for $18.11M in 3,441 locations. That placed World in 2nd place on the charts, followed by the Disney/Pixar film.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4083&p=.htm









July 10-12, 2015 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Minions $115,200,000
2. Jurassic World $18,100,000 / $590,638,000
3. Inside Out $17,108,000 / $283,638,000
4. Terminator Genisys $13,700,000 / $68,718,000
5. The Gallows $10,015,000
6. Magic Mike XXL $9,640,000 / $48,359,000'
7. Ted 2 $5,600,000 / $71,619,000
8. Self/Less $5,379,000
9. Baahubali: The Beginning $3,575,000
10. Max $3,420,000 / $33,705,000