Weekend Estimates: Despicable Me’s Solid $75 Million Starts July 4 Holiday Week

July 2, 2017

Despicable Me 3

With July 4 falling on a Tuesday this year, this is less a holiday weekend, and more the beginning of a holiday week, and it’s bookended by new releases from two of the industry’s most reliable franchises. Despicable Me 3 starts off festivities this weekend with a solid-but-unspectacular $75.4 million from a record-setting 4,529 theaters. Breaking The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’s record for widest opening weekend of all time is no small feat for Universal, but it’s an ominous sign for the franchise that the only film to open in close to this number of theaters and pull in similar numbers at the box office was Shrek Forever After, which opened with $70.8 million in 4,359 theaters back in 2010. That was the last Shrek movie, and this might be a good time for Gru to call it a day.

Universal reports $95.6 million internationally this weekend for Despicable Me 3, for a total overseas so far of $116.9 million. Worldwide, the film will end the weekend with around $192.3 million, and the studio is touting a few records, including the biggest opening weekend of all time in Estonia ($304,000) and Latvia ($240,000). Other highlights include $14.7 million in the UK, $13.5 million in Mexico, $7.5 million in Brazil, $9.2 million in Russia, $5.5 million in Spain, and $4.4 million in Argentina (the third-biggest opening of all time in that country). The film opens in China, France, and Germany next weekend, and those territories will determine whether the film comes out a solid success overseas, or raises to the hit level.

Domestically, Baby Driver is already a hit, with Sony projecting $21 million for the weekend. With excellent reviews and the holiday week to come, this looks looks like the breakout film the Summer needed, and is a welcome alternative to the packed schedule of franchise films that are crowding the market right now. Seven of the top thirteen films this weekend come from major studio franchises, and the arrival of Spider-Man: Homecoming and War for the Planet of the Apes over the next two weekends means that we could by looking at nine franchise plays in the top fifteen a couple of weeks from now. The industry has more than one diversity problem.

Unfortunately, The House will do nothing to quench the glut of franchise films, with the Will Ferrell/Amy Poehler comedy, which looked so promising on paper, falling flat in execution with $9 million expected this weekend, and not much more before it disappears from theaters.

The Beguiled is looking more promising this weekend, as it expands into 674 theaters and will earn a projected $3.26 million. Its theater average of $4,836 suggests it could expand a little more, but is more likely to continue as a nationwide-but-not-wide-wide release for a few weeks. The Big Sick, meanwhile, expanded into 71 theaters this weekend, and is expected to earn $1.6 million for Lionsgate its $22,535 average gives it all the momentum it needs to continue its nationwide rollout.

The standout performer among new limited releases this weekend is The Little Hours, which is projected to make $61,560 in just two theaters for new distributor Gunpowder & Sky.

- Weekend estimates

- All-time highest-grossing films worldwide
- Despicable Me franchise history
- Transformers franchise history
- Pixar box office history
- DC Extended Universe
- Pirates of the Caribbean box office history
- Marvel Cinematic Universe box office history

- Despicable Me 3 comparison chart
- Baby Driver comparison chart
- The House comparison chart
- Transformers: The Last Knight comparison chart
- Wonder Woman comparison chart
- Cars 3 comparison chart
- 47 Meters Down comparison chart
- The Mummy comparison chart
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales comparison chart
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 comparison chart

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Baby Driver, Despicable Me 3, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The House, The Beguiled, The Big Sick, The Little Hours, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Despicable Me, DC Extended Universe, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler