by Nathaniel R
Fourth of July is historically a huge box office weekend and as such, it's strange that only one other new wide release film, the low profile period rom-com Mr Malcolm's List, tried to compete with the Minions: The Rise of Gru. Naturally then, the animated franchise installment swept the table with a record-breaking gross....
| Holiday Weekend Box Office July 1st-4th 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it |
|
| WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS) | PLATFORM RELEASES |
 MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU |
 THE FORGIVEN |
| 1 🔺 MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU $123 NEW |
1 ★ EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE $674k (cum. $67.1) |
| 2 ★ TOP GUN MAVERICK $32.2 (cum. $570.7) |
2 JUG JUGG JEEYO $308k (cum. $1.0) |
| 3 ★ ELVIS $23.5 (cum. $71.8) |
3 🔺 MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON $304k (cum. $527k) |
| 4 JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION $19.6 (cum. $335.7) | 4 OFFICIAL COMPETITION $175k (cum. $299k) |
|
5 THE BLACK PHONE $14.1 (cum. $49.3) |
5 🔺 THE FORGIVEN $167k NEW |
| 6 LIGHTYEAR $7.6 (cum. $106.4) ★ |
6 PHANTOM OF THE OPEN $80k (cum. $593k) |
| 7 🔺 MR MALCOLM'S LIST $1 NEW |
7 ★ MAD GOD $43k (cum. $176k) |
| 8 ★ LOST HIGHWAY (Re-Release) $34k (cum. $51k) | |
| 9 THE WITCH PART 2 $18k (cum. $134k) | |
| 10 LOST ILLUSIONS $16k (cum. $82k) | |
| 11 NEPTUNE FROST $12k (cum. $148k) | |
| 12 RRR $9k (cum. $11.2) | |
...According to Box Office Mojo that's the biggest domestic debut ever for this time of year. That's crazy. As is its lack of competition. Once again there are only 7 movies in wide release. The last time a Fourth of July holiday fit neatly into a weekend was 2017 and there were 13 movies in wide release then and the #1 film was from this same franchise (Despicable Me 3 in point of fact). So... how long before the studios start giving us a healthy amount of theatrical releases again?
In platform release The Forgiven from Roadside Attractions, which stars Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, opened to very little publicity. And a very small expansion for Marcel the Shell With Shoes On kept a strong per screen average, the second best of the holiday weekend outside of those minions.
We were having fun in the sun this weekend so we went movie-free for the first weekend in months and months. How about you?