Box Office Report for the Week of July 7

The box office is now in full swing after a dormant May. Despicable Me 4 continues the momentum Inside Out 2 brought about with a $75 million tally during its weekend, culminating in an overall $122 million opening since its July 3 premiere. It’s another sign that this franchise is not slowing down in the commercial department, even if the fourth installment has not received the best of reviews so far.

But it doesn’t matter. Those movies are critic-proof, and the fourth film has now received the second-highest opening of the main franchise and has already grossed over $200 million worldwide. Perhaps it won’t reach $1 billion like Inside Out 2, but it’s still in a strong position to make as much bank as the last film, Minions: The Rise of Gru, did (though that one benefited from a strong Gentleminions TikTok campaign that the current film does not have).

Meanwhile, Ti West‘s MaXXXine has made quite the stab in cinemas, despite somewhat mixed reviews. The film raked up an impressive $6.7 million opening, with a budget that will likely be as comparable as X and Pearl (both films cost $2 million overall). It will likely turn a profit for A24, though we will have to watch how it fares out. The good news is that there aren’t many horror movies coming out on screen until M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap releases next month, so it could benefit from the lack of new horror films up until then.

The Fourth of July weekend could’ve also benefitted from more heavy hitters, such as Mark Molloy’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which would’ve brought terrific competition to Despicable Me 4, but alas, the movie was distributed by Netflix, who still don’t care about the theatrical viability of their films. Apple is all in, with Fly Me to the Moon having early access screenings this weekend before a wide release next week.

However, with the lack of diversified releases, Nag Ashwin‘s Kalki 2898 AD managed to leg out and deliver more than $1 million in its second weekend in only 925 theatres. According to their official page, the film has raked in more than $15 million at the North American box office, the fastest Indian film to reach this milestone, and the highest-grossing North American debut of Prabhas‘ career, on top of all the records it broke on its home country. Because of this, Variance Films is hosting a special IMAX screening on July 13 at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, with Ashwin in attendance. It would be futile to think this film could reach the same levels of crossover success as S.S. Rajamouli‘s RRR in the United States. However, it is very much worth seeing, for its ambitious worldbuilding and incredible sense of scope alone, and if you have the time for a 3-hour film, don’t miss it.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Despicable Me 4 (Universal): $75M – 4,428 theatres
2. Inside Out 2 (Disney): $30M (-48%) – 3,760 theatres
3. A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount): $21M (-60%) – 3,688 theatres
4. MaXXXine (A24): $6.7M – 2,450 theatres
5. Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Sony): $6.6M (-37%) – 2,644 theatres
6. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 (Warner Bros): $5.5M (-50%) – 3,334 theatres
7. Sound of Hope: The Possum Trot Story (Angel Studios): $3.2M – 2,200 theatres
8. Kalki 2898 AD (Prathyangira Cinemas): $1.8M (-68%) – 925 theatres
9. The Bikeriders (Universal): $1.3M (-61%) – 1,562 theatres
10. Kinds of Kindness (Disney): $860.000 (-45%) – 920 theatres

Source: Comscore