‘Minions’ is second-best animated opener ever
Minion ruled the weekend box office, racking up $115.2-million in North America for the second-best animated film opening in history.
The Universal and Illumination Entertainment spin-off of Despicable Me just missed the domestic record set by Shrek the Third’s $121.6-million kickoff in 2007 but continued animation maestro Chris Meledandri’s winning streak at the multiplexes.
What makes Meledandri so valuable to studios is that he keeps budgets low. Minions cost $74-million to produce, a modest amount considering that Pixar and DreamWorks Animation routinely spend north of $100-million on their animated features.
Nick Carpou, Universal’s domestic distribution chief, said he was made aware of the Minions‘ cultural currency this weekend while on an outing to a mall. A store featuring plush toys prominently displayed the Despicable Me characters.
The opening weekend crowd for Minions was 59% female, 55% under the age of 25, and 60% were families.
Minions also enjoyed a sprawling roll-out, debuting in 4301 cinemas. It took a chunk out of some of the turbo-charged blockbusters still kicking around the circuits.
Jurassic World slid 54% to $18.1-million, bringing its Stateside haul to $590.6-million, and Inside Out dipped 43% to $17.1-million, pushing its US total to $283.6-million.