Last weekend at thebox office, it looked likeJurassic Worldhad secured the top spot for the fourth weekend in a row, with a narrow victory over the animated hitInside Out. When the actual figures were tallied, the results were flip-flopped, withInside Outbarely beatingJurassic World. This weekend, the race wasn’t close at all, with Universal’sMinionseasily taking the top spot, earning a whopping $115.2 million.
While the critics' reception was mixed onMinions, with a 54% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, that didn’t stop audiences from coming out in droves for this animated spinoff of theDespicable Mefranchise, which provides an origin story for these delightful yellow characters. The comedy pulled in an impressive $26,784 per-screen average from 4,301 theaters, and its $115.2 million opening weekend is the second highest opening weekend ever for an animated movie, behind 2007’sShrek the Third($121.6 million).Minionsmay be the lastsummer movieto crack $100 million in its opening weekend, but it’s possible thatAnt-Man(July 17) andPixelshave a shot at cracking that milestone.Minionsalso gave the powerhouse Universal Pictures yet another box office record, as it became the only studio in history to have three movies open north of $100 million in one year, followingJurassic WorldandFurious 7.
Jurassic Worldremained in second place with $18.1 million, bringing its domestic total to $590.6 million and its worldwide gross to $1.4 billion. It currently stands as the fourth-highest domestic gross of all time after just five weeks in theaters, behindMarvel’s The Avengers’s $623.2 million, and fifth highest worldwide, behind another Universal Pictures hit,Furious 7with $1.51 million. We’ll have to wait and see how much the movie drops in the coming weeks, to see if it will pass any of these milestones.Inside Outdropped to third place with $17.1 million ($283.6 million domestic), withTerminator Genisysfalling to fourth place with $13.7 million ($68.7 million domestic).
New Line’s thrillerThe Gallowsopened in fifth place with just over $10 million, taking in a meager $3,682 per-screen average from 2,720 theaters, whileMagic Mike XXLdropped to sixth place with $9.6 million ($48.3 million domestic). The top 10 was rounded out byTed 2with $5.6 million ($71.6 million domestic), new releasesSelf/less($5.3 million) and Baahubali: The Beginning ($3.5 million) andMaxwith $3.4 million ($33.7 million domestic). Opening in limited release were Do I Sound Gay? with $11,000 from 1 theater,Robin Williams' final filmBoulevardwith $7,000 from 1 theater and Meet Me in Montenegro with $6,000 from 10 theaters
Next weekend featuresMarvel’sAnt-Mansquaring off with Universal’s comedyTrainwreck. There are also four movies opening in limited release,Irrational Man, The Look of Silence,Mr. HolmesandThe Stanford Prison Experiment. All six of these movies have been received very well by critics, but we’ll have to wait and see how audiences will respond to these new releases. While we wait for next weekend’s numbers, check out this weekend’s top 10 below.
