Minion movie breaks box office record

The animated movie “Minions, the rise of Gru” this weekend reeled in about $108.5 million in ticket sales in North America.

Universal Pictures said Sunday that by the end of the Monday’s July Fourth holiday, it will likely have earned over $127.9 million.

Released on the first of July, the film is on track to become one of the biggest openings ever for a July Fourth holiday weekend, a record previously held by “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” which made $115.9 million in its first four days in 2011.

Including international showings, where “Minions: The Rise of Gru” is playing in 61 markets, its worldwide gross is sitting at $202.2 million through Sunday.

“It’s a tremendous debut,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “It’s playing very broadly across North America. Every single market doing extraordinarily well.”

This is just the latest in a string of successes for Universal’s family releases, including “Sing 2,” which has grossed over $406 million since opening in December, and “The Bad Guys,” which has made over $243 million.

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” serves as further proof that family audiences are willing to go back to the movie theatre.

PM/S.S