Box office goes bananas: Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 smash records over the weekend.
What a weekend it was for movie lovers. With over 1 million admissions, this weekend marked the highest since December 28, 2023, and the biggest of 2024 so far. Families were torn between two blockbuster hits, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4, making it an epic box office showdown.
Disney's Inside Out 2 had a stellar second-week performance, following a record-smashing opening weekend. Riley’s new pals Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment pulled in another $7.5 million, pushing the total haul to over $19 million. Inside Out 2 has already topped 1 million admissions in Australia and is breaking records worldwide. With $724 million in the bank, it has outpaced Dune: Part Two’s $711 million, setting its sights on the legendary $1 billion milestone.
Not to be outdone, Universal's Despicable Me 4 stormed onto the scene with a franchise-best $7 million opening from Thursday to Sunday. This massive debut included 400,000 admissions, a 30% jump over Minions: The Rise of Gru, and a 19% boost over Despicable Me 3.
This weekend’s box office bonanza highlights the unstoppable appeal of these animated adventures with Inside Out 2 holding firmly to the top spot at the box office, while Despicable Me 4’s explosive debut at number two showed that families are still going bananas for Gru and his Minions.
It is no secret that family-friendly titles are gearing up to be the biggest hits of the year, with Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 leading the charge. Set to hit cinemas in the second half of the year, family audiences are in for a treat with the highly anticipated release of Moana 2, Wicked, and Mufasa: The Lion King. These upcoming blockbusters promise to keep the box office momentum strong, ensuring that 2024 is a banner year for family entertainment.
With Inside Out 2’s global triumph and Despicable Me 4’s powerful debut, moviegoers are in for an exciting school holiday period with the battle for box office supremacy far from over, and plenty more thrills to come in the weeks ahead.