Minions & Monsters crossed $31 million in its first two days of release, positioning Illumination's latest as a credible Fourth of July tentpole. Industry tracking points to a five-day holiday frame between $65 million and $80 million. July 4 falls on a Saturday in 2026, a calendar arrangement that compresses the holiday into a tighter window than when the date lands mid-week.
The film is directed by Pierre Coffin and co-directed by Patrick Delage. It is the seventh entry in the Despicable Me franchise and the third Minions prequel. Set in Hollywood in 1927, the story follows Minions James, Henry, and Ed as they attempt to produce their own monster film while actual monsters emerge from a warlock's spellbook. Brian Lynch wrote the screenplay and Chris Meledandri produced. The voice cast includes Jeff Bridges, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Trey Parker, Zoey Deutch, and Bobby Moynihan.
Critics have responded better than expected. The film holds a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes from 103 reviews, the highest franchise score since the original Despicable Me in 2010, according to Wikipedia. A CinemaScore of A minus and a Metacritic rating of 67 suggest broad mainstream satisfaction. The $85 million production premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 21 before going wide through Universal on July 1.
Minions: The Rise of Gru holds the July Fourth opening weekend record for the franchise. Whether Monsters approaches that mark depends on Saturday weather and how much the holiday pulls audiences away from theaters. Toy Story 5 remains the summer's dominant family title at $326.7 million domestic entering its third weekend. A strong result for Monsters would confirm the animated tentpole's hold on the holiday calendar slot.
