Audiences are going crazy for “Despicable Me 4” from Universal Pictures and Illumination.
The latest installment of the popular family film franchise grossed $27 million at the box office on Wednesday, according to estimates from a studio source and measurement firm Comscore. That figure is expected to rise to roughly $120 million by the July 4 weekend.
Other titles vying for moviegoer business in the holiday stretch include Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” which earned $7.3 million on Wednesday for a North American cume of $496.6 million; Paramount Pictures’ “A Quiet Place: Day One,” which earned $4.4 million on Wednesday for a North American cume of $68.6 million; Sony Pictures’ “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” which earned $1.2 million on Wednesday for a North American cume of $169.1 million; and Warner Bros.’ “Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1,” which earned $1.1 million on Wednesday for a North American cume of $14.8 million.
The promising start to “Despicable Me 4” is good news for exhibitors, as the 2024 box office appears to be turning a corner thanks to some much-needed hits like “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and “Inside Out 2.”
From directing team Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage, “Despicable Me 4” follows the not-so-evil Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), his resourceful daughters and his zany sidekicks on another daring mission to escape a new enemy. Rounding out the lead voice cast are Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Madison Polan, Will Ferrell and Sofia Vergara.
The animated feature received a mediocre 55% rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes but earned an A rating from audiences polled by CinemaScore, proving that fans still can't get enough of Carell's curmudgeonly antihero and his talkative yellow entourage.
Film critic Gary Goldstein was not so generous in his review for the Los Angeles Times, writing that “This latest installment in Illumination's blockbuster animated franchise heaps on a mix of physical and visual gags and anything-goes action, plus a barrage of narrative dead ends, subplots and characters, as it strains to fill its 90 or so minutes with mind-bending, brain-exhausting mayhem.”
“Despite some laughs, some good voice work and plenty of eye-catching colour,” he adds, “it’s a largely empty and exhausting ride.”
And what is it that makes the public return to watch this criticized saga?
The Times’ Samantha Masunaga reports that a perfect storm of organic social media phenomena (calling all #Gentleminions), Facebook mom memes and multigenerational nostalgia has kept the franchise relevant and lucrative for the past 14 years. “Despicable Me” debuted to $56.4 million domestically in 2010, “Despicable Me 2” launched to $83.5 million in 2013 and “Despicable Me 3” opened to $72.4 million in 2017, according to Box Office Mojo.
“I’ve been in the business for 25 to 28 years. I can’t remember anything that has generated so much enthusiasm from the public,” Francisco Schlotterbeck, chief executive of the Maya Cinemas chain, told The Times.
“The other thing I can compare it to is 'Toy Story.'”
A24’s highly anticipated horror film “MaXXXine” hits theaters on Friday, followed by big releases like Goldove Entertainment’s “Lumina,” Neon’s “Longlegs” and Columbia Pictures’ “Fly Me to the Moon” next weekend.
