Universal and Illumination have created a license to print money, it’s called a minion. 2 movies as sidekicks and now their own movie, “Minions,” the minions have become a merchandising boon to Universal that shows no signs of slowing down. Headlining their own movie, “Minions” was #1 in 30 markets and has made almost $400 million worldwide. In the US, they pulled in $115 million. Granted there was no competition but that is still the second largest animated film opening ever.
Universal really can’t lose this year, “Jurassic World” and “Furious 7” have made over $1 billion each. Add in other films like “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Ted 2,” and “Fifty Shades of Grey” and it’s easy to see they are a clear winner this year.
Both “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out” dropped predictably with “Terminator: Genisys” falling below both.
| Rank | Title | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Total Gross | Week # | |||||
| 1 | Minions | Uni. | $115,200,000 | – | $115,200,000 | 1 | |||||
| 2 | Jurassic World | Uni. | $18,100,000 | -38.1% | $590,638,000 | 5 | |||||
| 3 | Inside Out | BV | $17,108,000 | -42.5% | $283,638,000 | 4 | |||||
| 4 | Terminator: Genisys | Par. | $13,700,000 | -49.3% | $68,718,000 | 2 | |||||
| 5 | The Gallows | WB (NL) | $10,015,000 | – | $10,015,000 | 1 | |||||
A quick note on budgets and dollar figures:
Films making back their budgets is a good sign, but that is just the money to film. It doesn’t include distribution and marketing. Marketing can cost as much as a film. That big Superbowl spot is spendy. So take that into account when judging a film’s success. Hitting $100 million isn’t the same as it once was.
All dollar amounts in the top 5 come from estimates based on ticket sales unless noted otherwise. Occasionally this article will be published when actual results come out, which is usually late Monday afternoon. For more about this and other ins and outs of movie tracking click here.