Universal and Illumination’s Minions & Monsters drew strong audiences internationally in its opening weekend, earning USD 85 million from 71 markets, even as the latest entry in the Despicable Me franchise posted its weakest domestic opening.
The animated film has now grossed USD 159 million worldwide. It opened to USD 61 million over five days in North America, including USD 39 million over the traditional three-day weekend, marking a franchise-low debut domestically.
China led international markets with USD 16.3 million, followed by Germany with USD 6.4 million and the United Kingdom and Ireland with USD 5.8 million.
Despite the soft domestic performance, overseas markets have historically driven the Despicable Me franchise. International revenues accounted for 71 per cent of the global total for the first Minions film in 2015 and 60 per cent for Minions: The Rise of Gru in 2022. Those films went on to earn USD 1.1 billion and USD 940 million worldwide, respectively.
Directed by series co-creator Pierre Coffin, Minions & Monsters is set in 1920 and follows the yellow creatures as they become Hollywood stars before the arrival of sound films derails their careers because the rest of the world cannot understand Minionese.
By comparison, Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 added USD 69.3 million from 50 international markets in its third weekend. The film debuted in Japan with USD 14.6 million, the biggest opening for a Hollywood release in the country. Its other top international markets include Mexico with USD 59.3 million, the United Kingdom with USD 50 million and China with USD 37 million.
Toy Story 5 has now earned USD 398 million overseas and USD 764 million globally. It is expected to surpass the USD 1.07 billion worldwide total of Toy Story 4 to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise.
Elsewhere, Warner Bros. and DC’s Supergirl collected USD 9.4 million from 80 international territories in its second weekend. The superhero film has grossed USD 42 million overseas and USD 100 million worldwide so far.
