Box Office: ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ Opens to $10.75 Million in Thursday Previews

Universal’s Nope, one of the few remaining tentpoles in a rebounding summer box office, looks to provide a lift this weekend with an estimated $50M start at 3,700 theaters with an eye at guys 17-34.

Focus Features’ Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris will hit an estimated $1.9 million weekend gross at 980 theaters drawing women with those 55 years of age and older repping 44% of the total. Turnout was best on the coasts for the drama starring Leslie Manville and Isabelle Huppert.

Refresh for latest…: There remains plenty of action at the international box office as we head into the dog days of summer and with fewer wide releases to come. This past week and weekend includes milestones aplenty for such films as Thor: Love And Thunder, Minions: The Rise Of Gru, Jurassic World Dominion, and the seemingly unstoppable Top Gun: Maverick. But it’s not a free-for-all as audiences now appear more discerning amid the recent barrage of big-ticket titles — adding to that, there is a very threatening heatwave across European majors which is complicating matters on several levels.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterMarvel’s superhero epic “Thor: Love and Thunder” is nearing the $500 million mark at the global box office, a great result after only 10 days on the big screen.Over the weekend, the fourth comic book movie to center on Chris Hemsworth’s hunky God of Thunder has generated $60.1 million from 47 territories at the international box office and another $46 million domestically for a weekend tally of $102 million. With those ticket sales, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe installment has earned $264.6 million overseas and $497.9 million worldwide to stand as the sixth-highest grossing Hollywood movie of the year.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterMarvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” managed to fend off three new nationwide releases to remain the No. 1 movie in North America.Though ticket sales for “Thor” cratered in its second weekend, falling by 68% to $46 million from 4,375 theaters, the latest installment in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe easily towered over a trio of newcomers: Sony’s literary adaptation “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Paramount’s animated “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” and the Focus Features period drama “Mrs.

The sharp drop is one that has been shared by almost every film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as “Black Widow,” “Eternals” and “Doctor Universe in the Multiverse of Madness also fell 67-68% in their second weekends. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” also fell 68%, but that’s to be expected after a historic $260 million opening, and it didn’t stop the film from legging out over Christmas to over $800 million domestic and $1.9 billion worldwide.

Variety.“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” whose henchmen The Post said “bring on the funny,” took home second place, earning close to $5.4 million.“Top Gun: Maverick” fell from the sky a bit by landing in third, with close to $2 million on Friday. A sequel to the Tom Cruise-helmed 1986 action-drama “Top Gun,” it recently flew past “Titanic,” snagging the title of highest-grossing Paramount film in its initial run in the studio’s 110-year history, per Collider.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaBaz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” topped $100 million at the domestic box office on Friday, becoming one of the rare films without superheroes or dinosaurs to reach that mark. Globally, the Warner Bros. film has made over $170 million, an impressive result for this kind of material.To be fair, “Elvis” was expensive.

In a remarkable benchmark for an adult, female-skewing movie, especially with a 2 hour 39 minute running time, Warner Bros.’ Elvis has crossed the $100M mark at the domestic box office.

Jordan Moreau After dominating the box office last weekend, “Thor: Love and Thunder” has two challengers standing in its way: “Where the Crawdads Sing” and “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.” Luckily for Thor, these two should be easier opponents than Loki, Thanos or Gorr the God Butcher.Both films open this weekend, with Sony’s “Where the Crawdads Sing” opening to $2.3 million in Thursday previews, and Paramount’s “Paws of Fury” launching with $505,000.Barring a box office miracle, neither film has a chance to take down “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which is expected to take in $55 million to $65 million in its second weekend, after earning a mighty $143 million last week. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” an adaptation of the popular novel, and “Paws of Fury,” an animated family flick, are both projected to take in $10 million this weekend.

Carolina” as a means of attracting young audiences, the film is also the first targeting a largely female crowd since “Downton Abbey: A New Era” earlier this year. That movie opened to $16 million after it brought in $1 million in its Thursday preview screenings.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth standalone Marvel story about Chris Hemsworth’s hulking God of Thunder, picked up $15.7 million on opening day at the international box office.The film is currently playing in 17 overseas markets, including Germany, Italy, Australia and Korea, and it will debut in North America and several other major territories on Friday.Overall ticket sales are pacing 39% ahead of “Thor: Ragnarok” (which ultimately collected $130 million during its opening weekend) and 24% behind “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (which scored a massive $265 million in its international box office debut).By the time Sunday comes around, the newest “Thor” adventure is expected to rake in at least $145 million to $155 million in North America (with some estimates reaching as high as $170 million) and another $140 million to $150 million from overseas markets. For now, “Love and Thunder” is not playing in China, Russia or France.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterGet ready for more Marvel mania.Disney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth standalone story about Chris Hemsworth’s hulking God of Thunder and the second (of three) Marvel movies to play in theaters in 2022, is gearing up to turbocharge the domestic box office. The nth sequel in the sprawling MCU is expected to bring in anywhere from $145 million to $155 million over the weekend, with some estimates reaching as high as $170 million.

The previous record for the July 4 weekend was set back in 2011 by “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” with $115.9 million. Despite a two-year delay forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minions and the “Despicable Me” franchise they came from have not faded in popularity, drawing both families and general audiences in equal parts. The film in particular got a strong turnout from teens, who Universal reports accounted for roughly a third of the weekend’s audience.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterTiny yellow creatures are taking over the international box office.“Minions: The Rise of Gru” ignited to $93.7 million from 61 overseas markets and notched one of the biggest pandemic-era opening weekends for an animated film in many of those territories.Those returns take the fifth installment in Universal and Illumination’s popular “Despicable Me” franchise past $200 million at the global box office. In North America, “The Rise of Gru” debuted to $108 million over the weekend and looks to reach $127.9 million through Independence Day on Monday.Outside of the U.S. and Canada, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” enjoyed the strongest showing in the United Kingdom and Ireland with $12.9 million, followed by Mexico with $12.4 million and Germany with $4.8 million.

Just shy of the $115 million opening earned by the first “Minions” in 2015, “The Rise of Gru” now joins its predecessor among the top 10 highest openings ever for animated films. It currently sits ninth on that list, just ahead of the $108 million opening of “Shrek 2” in 2004.

Any concerns in the film industry about long-term drops in family turnout after Disney/Pixar’s “Lightyear” underperformed can be dispelled. “Minions 2” is posting a higher opening weekend than any of the three main “Despicable Me” films, and its estimated 4-day opening of $129 million that includes July 4 numbers will top the $115 million 3-day opening of the first “Minions” in 2015. It will also rank among the top 10 highest openings ever for an animated film.

J. Kim Murphy It’s official —the Minions are back.Universal’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” is setting off fireworks at the Fourth of July box office, projecting a $129.2 million opening over the four-day holiday weekend.

The big screen debut of Marcel The Shell With Shoes On opened at $170K on six screens in New York and LA, the highest PSA of the weekend at $28,267 for the iconic lonely snail voiced by Jenny Slate.

Refresh for latest…: Paramount/Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick has raced past the $1B mark worldwide, becoming only the second movie of the pandemic era to reach such rarefied air — and Tom Cruise’s first time to the milestone in a career that has spanned 40 years. It took just 31 days for the aviators to get to $1B with the total through Sunday at an estimated $1.006B worldwide, including domestic’s estimated $521.7M and $484.7M from the international box office.