‘Minions & Monsters’ Box Office Stumble Raises Questions About Franchise Fatigue

Summer 2026 has already delivered its share of box office surprises, and animated sequels have not been immune to the shifting habits of moviegoers. Illumination’s yellow icons have long been considered a sure thing, powering the ‘Despicable Me’ universe into one of the most lucrative franchises in film history. That reputation is now being tested in a way few expected.

‘Minions & Monsters,’ the seventh entry in the franchise, arrived in theaters over the long July 4th weekend with plenty of studio confidence behind it. The film had already drawn strong reviews on the festival circuit and carried the goodwill of a franchise that has rarely disappointed at the domestic box office. That confidence collided with reality once actual ticket numbers came in.

According to industry tracking site Global Box Office, ‘Minions & Monsters’ pulled in $36.4 million over its three day opening, officially making it a lower opening than ‘Supergirl,’ which had debuted the week before at $37.1 million. The film earned $36.4 million at the holiday weekend box office as the seventh installment in the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise, and the same account noted the film has taken in $61.4 million since its Wednesday debut, the softest five day start in the series to date.

The numbers are especially notable because they arrived alongside the best reviews the franchise has ever received. ‘Minions & Monsters’ opened well below expectations even as ‘Supergirl’ tumbled 74 percent in its second weekend, and the muted opening came despite the film earning the best reviews in the franchise from critics, surpassing the Rotten Tomatoes score of the original ‘Despicable Me’. Audiences were far less enthusiastic than critics, giving the film an A- CinemaScore compared to the A that ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ received in 2022.

Several factors appear to have played a role in the underwhelming turnout. The America 250 celebrations and somewhat lower audience scores contributed to the softest opening in the franchise, well below the 123 million dollar four day debut that ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ logged over the same holiday in 2022. The film also had to compete with a packed holiday slate, including ‘Toy Story 5,’ the patriotic biopic ‘Young Washington,’ and ongoing World Cup coverage pulling audiences toward screens at home.

Despite the soft domestic numbers, the picture overseas tells a different story. ‘Minions & Monsters’ earned 85 million dollars from 71 international markets over the weekend and 98 million dollars to date, suggesting global audiences have not soured on the Minions the way domestic moviegoers seemingly have. With a production budget of just 85 million dollars before marketing, the film is still positioned to turn a profit for Universal and Illumination even if it never matches the franchise’s past highs.

Director Pierre Coffin has framed the film’s ambitions in terms beyond ticket sales. Speaking with Chris Meledandri at the Annecy International Film Festival before release, Coffin explained that his main goal was making a movie he could be proud of rather than chasing a specific box office target, a sentiment he shared in an interview with Deadline.

Whether this marks a genuine cooling of Minions mania or simply an unusually crowded holiday frame remains to be seen in the coming weeks. Do you think the Minions still have box office magic left, or is ‘Minions & Monsters’ proof that even the most reliable franchises eventually hit a wall?