‘Despicable Me 4’ opens big with $122 million over long weekend

This image release by Illumination & Universal Pictures shows Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, in a scene from “Despicable Me 4,” (Illumination & Universal Pictures via AP)

LOS ANGELES – In another huge opening for animated family comedies, “Despicable Me 4” took in $75 million over the three-day weekend, and $122.6 million over the five-day holiday weekend beginning Thursday to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” continued its prodigious run, grossing $30 million Friday through Sunday in its fourth weekend to claim second place after three weeks at the top of the charts, Comscore reported.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” was third with $21 million Friday through Sunday in its second weekend in theaters.

“MaXXXine,” the third film in director Ti West’s horror trilogy, opened with $6.7 million for fourth place, followed by “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” which made $6.5 million in its fifth weekend.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Horizon: An American Saga” ($5.4 million), “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” ($3.2 million), “Kalki 2898 AD” ($1.79 million), “The Bikeriders” ($1.3 million) and “Kinds of Kindness” ($860,000).

This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $156.4 million. The year-to-date total is $3.902 billion – down 17 percent from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.

Since first debuting in the 2010 original “Despicable Me,” each entry of the franchise — including two sequels and two “Minions” spinoffs — has been seemingly guaranteed to gross around $1 billion. The four previous movies all made between $939 million (2022’s “Minions: Rise of Gru”) and $1.26 billion (2015’s “Minions”) globally.

“Despicable Me 4,” directed by Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage, returns the voice cast led by Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig and doubles down on more Minion mayhem.

Reviews weren’t particularly good for the latest installment, which includes a witness protection plot and a group of Minions transformed into a superhero squadron. But in their 12-year run, little has slowed down the Minions.

Family movies are powering the box office. “Despicable Me 4” performed strongly despite the still considerable drawing power of “Inside Out 2.” In its fourth weekend of release, the Pixar sequel added another $30 million domestically and $78.3 million overseas.

“Inside Out 2,” with $1.22 billion in ticket sales thus far, is easily the year’s biggest hit and fast climbing up the all-time ranks for animated releases. It currently ranks as the No. 5 animated release worldwide. (With CNS report)