"Despicable Me 4" Set to Dominate Fourth of July Box Office

The summer movie season is about to get a significant boost with the release of “Despicable Me 4,” starring Steve Carell as the lovable reformed villain Gru. Industry forecasts suggest the animated sequel could rake in an impressive $200 million worldwide over the Fourth of July weekend.

Directed by Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage, the latest installment in the popular franchise is tracking to debut between $110 million and $120 million domestically over the five-day holiday weekend (July 3-7). This performance would make it the second-best opening of the summer, trailing only behind Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” which opened to $154.2 million in mid-June.

The film has already shown strong performance in international markets, earning $25.5 million since its July 1 release in countries like Hong Kong, Portugal, and New Zealand. Australia leads the pack with $9.7 million, followed by Argentina with $5.4 million and Chile with $2.4 million.

If “Despicable Me 4” reaches the higher end of its projected range, it could potentially set a new opening weekend record for the franchise. The current record holder is 2015’s “Minions” with $115.7 million, although that figure was achieved over a standard three-day weekend.

Interestingly, the franchise has shown a trend where lower critical ratings often correlate with higher box office returns. “Despicable Me 3” and “Minions,” with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 58% and 56% respectively, are the highest-grossing entries in the series, each earning over $1 billion globally.

As “Despicable Me 4” prepares to hit theaters on July 3, all eyes will be on Gru and his Minions to see if they can continue the franchise’s streak of box office success and potentially break new records for the series.