America Didn’t Claim the Minions Over July 4th Weekend

Minions and Monsters underperformed at the domestic box office this 4th of July weekend. Maybe America was too busy wrestling with its own history of siding with the most despicable villains around? The film was projected to hit $80 million according to Variety, but only made $61 mil in the U.S. Alas, it was an all-time low for the franchise, even counting Despicable Me when taking inflation into consideration.

The entire domestic box office was bracing for the Independence Day doldrums. Unless you’re Will Smith in the ‘90s, you can expect smaller returns over the holiday, as it’s really more of a time for being outside. Parades, fireworks, outdoor food preparation — these are the things we think of when we think “4th of July weekend.” Not a French animation company’s tribute to early cinema. 

But things were looking a lot more sanguine overseas. Minions belong to the world, and the global movie markets said “Bello” to Minions and Monsters in a way the U.S. could never. The movie made $85 million over the weekend overseas, with a $98 million global total. Bank yu!