It looks like Minions: The Rise of Gru will have a big weekend at the box office over the Fourth of July holiday if its preview numbers are any indication. The Universal/Illumination release scored the best preview numbers for an animated film during the pandemic.
Per Deadline, Minions: The Rise of Gru grossed $10.75 million in Thursday previews that began at 2:00 PM from 3,350 locations. I predicted a $95 million four-day opening for Minions: The Rise of Gru, which bodes well for that prediction. The preview number beats the $6.25 million combined two-day previews for Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and Disney’s previews combined $5.2 million for Lightyear. The film even bested the $6.2 million previews for 2015’s Minions, which began its previews at 5:00 PM and went on to have a massive $46 million opening Friday. That turned into a $115.7 million opening weekend.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 has been the best opening for an animated movie, albeit an animated/live-action hybrid, since mid-March of this year. That film opened to $72.1 million; unless something truly crazy happens, Minions: The Rise of Gru is likely to top that figure. Aside from my predictions, the Minions sequel is tracking to open in the $70-80 million range.
What are YOUR thoughts on the Minions: Rise of Gru’s preview numbers?