This summer at the movies has been sizzling hot! We’ve seen some awesome new animation films and scary horror flicks lighting up the big screen. The number one movie for the second weekend in a row was Despicable Me 4. This latest installment in the Minions franchise brought in an estimated $44.7 million. That means its total earnings so far in North America are over $211 million! Worldwide it’s made an incredible $437 million. No wonder the whole Despicable Me series has now made over $5 billion total – these movies are huge!
But Despicable Me 4 wasn’t the only hit this weekend. A new horror movie called Longlegs had a monstrous debut in second place with $22.6 million. That sets a record as the best opening for the small studio NEON. It’s also the highest grossing original horror film so far this year. Elissa Federoff, who’s in charge of distribution for NEON, said they worked hard promoting Longlegs on social media. “When people can tell a movie will be different than anything else, they want to check it out,” she explained.
It was a close battle on Friday between Despicable Me 4 and Longlegs. The animated flick made $13.7 million compared to the horror film’s $10 million. But families packed theaters over the weekend, helping Despicable Me 4 pull ahead.
A couple other movies did great too. Inside Out 2 came in third place with $20.7 million, bringing its worldwide total to an amazing $1.35 billion. The thriller A Quiet Place: Day One landed at number four with $11.8 million, so now it’s made over $203 million globally. And the new romantic comedy Fly Me to the Moon, starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson, made its debut in fifth place with $10 million.
Both big studio films and independent movies finding success is encouraging for the film industry. Earlier this year there were worries about how movies would fare. But with upcoming blockbusters like Twisters and Deadpool & Wolverine, it looks like the hottest movie season of the year still has plenty more thrills in store! As long as audiences keep turning out, theaters have reason to hope that diverse movies from all kinds of studios can keep thriving.
