4th of July is Red, White, and Yellow - Weeks 9 & 10

 It’s hard to think about what’s more American: apple pie, baseball, hot dogs, or Minions?

Despicable Me 4 exploded over 4th of July Weekend with a $122.6 four-day debut. Gru and the crew were back for their latest mission and audiences were waiting with freeze-ray breath. That four-day take is about even with Minions: Rise of Gru from two years ago (yes, also over 4th of July weekend), so that bodes well for a film that might mirror the success of that film’s $370 million total. 

While the success of Despicable Me 4 may not have been surprising, the only 47% drop of Inside Out 2 (when faced with a direct family/animated film) was. Joy, Anxiety, and all those other emotions kept giving everyone the feels and it’s hard to see any film topping Inside Out 2 as “the” movie of the summer. It’s now at $534 million and looks like it could pass The Super Mario Bros. Movie at $575 million after its latest $30 million weekend for the second biggest animated film of all-time. Catching Incredibles 2 at $608 million would, obviously, be incredible. 

Meanwhile, A Quiet Place: Day One wasn’t so quiet with a $52 million debut. Certainly, a strong start for a spin-off film of the franchise which bodes well for other spin-off movies in the Quiet-verse. Still, this was a little shy of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ $58 million start, so Day One might need to make some more noise if it wants to catch those monkeys in the pool. 

Also, Kevin Costner’s lovechild Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 started with an $11 million opening weekend. Yes, about the same as The Stranger’s - Chapter 1. However, The Strangers cost $8.5 million to make and Horizon is in the triple million dollar digit category. Sure, that’s for all four of the Horizon films, though it’s hard to see how excited anyone’s going to be about making Chapters 3 and 4 now when no one ever cared about the first flick. 

Now, tons of people are throwing dirt on Kevin Costner and making fun of him for throwing so much of his own money on this dumpster fire, but hey, it’s his money and maybe more celebs should be putting their own capital forward for labors of love vs. cashing-in on the eighteenth reboot/rebrand/remake of the year. I mean, sure, “he’s an idiot,” yet let’s not forget that his project paid a lot of people (from actors to costumer designers to key grips to caterers) a lot of money while working to assemble this 12-hour, four-part monstrosity. Keep staying weird, Kevin Costner. The world’s more interesting that way.

The Top Five If Today Was Labor Day:

#1. Inside Out 2 - $534.1 million

#2. Bad Boys: Ride or Die - $177.4 million

#3. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - $169.6 million

#4. Despicable Me 4 - $122.6 million

#5. IF - $110.8 million