The box office has seen a significant uptick in recent weeks, with the release of "Despicable Me 4" leading the way with a strong showing over the Independence Day weekend. The Universal Pictures sequel brought in $75 million in ticket sales over the weekend and $122.6 million since its opening on Wednesday. This success further solidifies the Minions franchise as a major force in the film industry, with each entry consistently grossing around $1 billion globally.
The strong performance of "Despicable Me 4" is part of a larger trend of successful releases in the summer movie season. Other recent hits include Sony's "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" and Pixar's "Inside Out 2," which has already surpassed $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide. The Paramount prequel "A Quiet Place: Day One" also exceeded expectations in its opening weekend.
Family movies have been driving box office sales, with "Despicable Me 4" and "Inside Out 2" performing well among audiences. The continued success of these films has led to an optimistic outlook for the summer movie season, with analysts now predicting a total box office haul closer to $3.4 billion, up from initial estimates of $3 billion.
While some new releases, such as Ti West's "MaXXXine" and Angel Studios' "Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot," have seen moderate success, others, like Kevin Costner's "Horizon: An American Saga," have struggled to attract audiences. Despite these mixed results, the overall trend in the box office is positive, with many studios revising their forecasts for the summer season.
Overall, the recent success of "Despicable Me 4" and other summer releases has injected new life into the box office after a slow start to the year. With a promising lineup of films set to debut in the coming weeks, the industry is looking forward to a strong finish to the summer movie season.