Minions & Monsters. The latest film in the Despicable Me franchise, beat Toy Story 5 fair and square in the head-to-head animated bout for box office glory this weekend. But it isn’t quite the good news that Illumination, the animation studio behind the film, was hoping for.

Franchise Low for Despicable Me Series

Minions & Monsters, the latest film in the franchise that Despicable Me kicked off in 2010 and the third installment in the prequel series that Minions launched in 2015, earned a solid $36.4 million domestically to Toy Story 5’s $31 million. But Pixar’s latest bid for box office glory is already in its third week in theaters, after premiering to an astounding $160 million domestically and $312 million globally. And Minions & Monsters’ domestic figure marks an all-time franchise low.

Despicable Me previously held that record, having scored $56.4 million back in 2010. Adjusted for inflation, that $20 million lead on Minions & Monsters would dramatically widen to around $50 million.

Global Earnings Offer Some Relief

The global picture for Minions & Monsters isn’t so bad. The lighthearted comedy, featuring the voices of Allison Janney, Jesse Eisenberg, and Zoey Deutch, earned $121.4 million around the world in its first weekend since going wide, on top of another $38 million from openings last weekend across territories in Europe and Africa.

Given the film’s estimated $85 million budget, it’s on track to become profitable enough to justify an eighth Despicable Me, even accounting for marketing and promotional expenses that do not traditionally factor into budgetary reports. So the returns are mixed for Illumination, great for Disney — with Toy Story 5 now reaching $366.3 million domestically and $764.3 million globally — and dismal for Warner Bros., as Supergirl continues to bomb.

Supergirl’s Box Office Struggles Continue

The high-flying follow to last year’s blockbuster Superman, what was vaunted as a star-making vehicle for Milly Alcock is proving to be a dud in line with D.C.’s pre-Superman rut of bombs, from Black Adam to Joker: Folie à Deux. The film dropped a steep 74 percent in its second weekend in theaters, scraping together only $9.6 million domestically and $19 million globally.

Elsewhere on the box office charts, Christian production hub Angel Studios continued its success streak with Young Washington. The independently produced biopic of George Washington took full advantage of the American spirit saturating the July 4th air this weekend, earning $20.8 million domestically. That figure bests the studio’s previous highest live-action grosser, 2023’s trafficking drama Sound of Freedom.

More indie success can be found in the original horror visions from 26-year-old director Curry Barker, Obsession, and 21-year-old director Kane Parsons, Backrooms. Obsession has now grossed $245.3 million domestically on an estimated $750,000 microbudget, after adding $5.3 million in week 8. Backrooms, meanwhile, earned $3.3 million domestically and $13 million globally in its sixth week, for an around-the-world haul of $356 million.

A slew of challengers have a fighting chance of knocking Minions & Monsters off the throne next weekend. Chief among them is Disney’s live-action remake of Moana. Given the original opened to $56 million in 2016, and the sequel opened to $139.7 million in 2024, eventually topping out at $1.05 billion worldwide, this new take on the ocean-roving heroine’s island-hopping journey is bound to perform well.

But there’s also the wide rollout of Olivia Wilde’s off-kilter The Invite, the horror sequel Evil Dead Burn, and the Zoey Deutch raunch-comedy Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass to contend with.