Box Office Round-Up ~ 7/5/22

The little yellow machine was running strong this July 4th weekend, as Minions: The Rise of Gru surged to the top of the box office. The fifth installment in Universal’s wildly successful Despicable Me franchise cleared $108 million in its opening weekend, and is on track to make even more once the holiday weekend numbers have been fully counted. It was an encouraging rebound for animated features after the disappointing performances of Lightyear and The Bob’s Burgers Movie, especially considering the tough competition from the live-action side of the box office. Last week’s top five all moved down one spot in unison. In its sixth weekend, Top Gun: Maverick continued to surpass expectations with another $25.5 million. It will likely clear $600 million domestic before the end of July, which would put it in range of the all-time top ten highest grossing films. (It’s currently sitting at #12, just behind 2018’s Incredibles 2.) In third place, Elvis took in $19 million in its second weekend on the big screen. And in fourth place, Jurassic World: Dominion closed in on $500 million domestic with a weekend gross of $15.6 million. And rounding out the top five, serial killer thriller The Black Phone netted $12.3 million, perhaps acting as as family unfriendly counter-programming. Next week sees Marvel Studios’ return to the big screen with Thor: Love & Thunder from director Taika Waititi. It will likely bump everything down another spot in the top five, though perhaps the God of Thunder underestimates the power of the Minions at his own peril.

1. Minions: The Rise of Gru ($108.5 MM)
Director: Kyle Balda (UTA), Brad Ableson (CAA), Jonathan del Val
Writers: Matthew Fogel (UTA), Brian Lynch (WME)
Cast:  Steve Carell (WME)
          Pierre Coffin
          Alan Arkin (ICM)

2. Top Gun: Maverick ($25.5 MM)
Director: Joseph Kosinski (CAA)
Writers: Peter Craig (CAA), Justin Marks (CAA), Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer (Range Media Partners), Christopher McQuarrie (CAA)
Cast: Tom Cruise (CAA)
          Miles Teller (CAA)        
          Jennifer Connelly (CAA)

3. Elvis ($19 MM)
Director: Baz Luhrmann (WME)
Writers: Baz Luhrmann (WME), Sam Bromell (MGMT Entertainment), Craig Pearce (Mosaic), Jeremy Doner (CAA)
Cast: Austin Butler (WME)       
         Tom Hanks (CAA)        
         Olivia DeJonge (CAA)

4. Jurassic World: Dominion ($15.6 MM)
Director: Colin Trevorrow (WME)
Writers: Emily Carmichael (Verve), Colin Trevorrow (WME), Derek Connolly (Verve)
Cast: Chris Pratt (UTA)
          Bryce Dallas Howard (WME)
          Laura Dern (CAA)

5. The Black Phone ($12.3 MM) Director: Scott Derrickson (WME)
Writers: Scott Derrickson (WME) C. Robert Cargill (WME)
Cast: Ethan Hawke (CAA)        
          Mason Thames (WME)    
          Madeleine McGraw (Coast to Coast)

Source: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers