Weekend Box Office Recap: Minions & Monsters Tops July 4 Weekend, But Toy Story 5 Still Looks Like the Bigger Winner

The weekend of July 3–5, 2026 gave the box office a holiday animation showdown. Minions & Monsters, the latest entry in the Despicable Me universe, opened at No. 1 and finally knocked Toy Story 5 out of the top spot. But the win came with an asterisk.

Minions & Monsters earned an estimated $36.4 million domestic over the standard Friday-to-Sunday weekend and $61.4 million over its first five days after opening Wednesday. Globally, the film launched to around $160 million in its debut week.

That is a strong number in isolation, especially for a movie with a reported production budget around $85 million. But by Despicable Me and Minions standards, the domestic opening was soft. In fact, it was the lowest opening weekend in the franchise’s history, falling below the original Despicable Me, which opened to $56.4 million in 2010.

So yes, the Minions won the weekend. But Toy Story 5 may still be the bigger box office story.

Minions & Monsters Takes No. 1, But With Mixed Signals

The good news for Universal and Illumination is simple: Minions & Monsters opened in first place over the July 4 holiday weekend. The franchise remains globally recognizable, family-friendly, and commercial enough to draw a wide audience.

The movie’s premise also gave it a playful Hollywood hook, with the Minions chasing movie stardom during Hollywood’s Golden Age. That helped position it as light summer counterprogramming during a holiday frame built around families, kids, and repeat moviegoing.

But the domestic number is still muted compared with past franchise entries. A $36.4 million three-day start would be excellent for many animated films, but this is a series that has produced several massive openings and multiple billion-dollar global totals. For the seventh film in the broader Despicable Me franchise, the opening suggests some franchise fatigue.

The five-day number softens the picture. At $61.4 million domestic since Wednesday and about $160 million worldwide, the movie is not in trouble. It simply opened more like a solid family sequel than a dominant animated event.

Domestic Top 10

Here is the estimated domestic top 10 for July 3–5, 2026:

1. Minions & Monsters — $36.4 million
2. Toy Story 5 — $31.0 million
3. Young Washington — $20.8 million
4. Supergirl — $9.6 million
5. Disclosure Day — $6.0 million
6. Obsession — $5.3 million
7. Backrooms — $3.3 million
8. Jackass: Best and Last — $2.7 million
9. Scary Movie — $1.1 million
10. The Invite — $800,708

Toy Story 5 Falls to Second, But Keeps Rolling

Toy Story 5 dropped to second place with $31 million in its third weekend, down about 56% from last weekend. That is a noticeable decline, but the context still looks very strong.

The Pixar sequel has now reached about $366.3 million domestic and $764.3 million worldwide. It remains one of the biggest movies of 2026 and still has a clear path to becoming one of the year’s top global performers.

The more important comparison is not just this weekend’s head-to-head matchup with Minions & Monsters. It is the larger trajectory. Toy Story 5 opened to $160 million domestic and $312 million worldwide, then held strongly enough to build a huge total by its third weekend. Minions & Monsters won the holiday frame, but Toy Story 5 has already done more to define the summer.

This weekend also proves there is room for more than one animated family film at the same time. Families did not abandon Toy Story 5 just because the Minions arrived. The category remains one of the most reliable lanes at the 2026 box office.

Young Washington Finds the Right Holiday Moment

The biggest surprise among the new releases was Young Washington, which opened in third place with about $20.8 million.

The Angel Studios historical drama benefited from timing. Opening over July 4 weekend, while the country was celebrating America’s 250th birthday, gave the film a built-in patriotic angle. The movie focuses on George Washington’s early military service during the French and Indian War, which made it especially relevant to the holiday frame.

This is the kind of release where timing probably mattered as much as marketing. A historical George Washington drama would not automatically be expected to break into the top three during a crowded summer weekend. But with the July 4 connection and Angel’s audience-targeting model, Young Washington found a clear lane.

It also continues Angel Studios’ run of audience-specific theatrical wins. The company has shown that it can mobilize a dedicated audience when the subject matter connects with its core viewers.

Supergirl Collapses in Weekend Two

The roughest story of the weekend is Supergirl. After opening below expectations last weekend, the DC release fell about 74% in its second frame, earning just $9.6 million and landing in fourth place.

That is a brutal drop for a superhero movie that already had a soft launch. The film’s domestic total is now around $58.5 million, which is far below what Warner Bros. and DC Studios would have wanted from a major comic-book release.

This is especially concerning because Supergirl was supposed to extend the positive momentum from Superman. Instead, it is performing more like the weaker pre-reboot DC titles that struggled to generate audience urgency. The character may still have long-term value, but this theatrical result raises major questions.

The issue is not simply that audiences dislike superhero movies now. The genre can still work when the movie feels fresh, essential, and widely appealing. But the automatic opening-weekend advantage is gone. Supergirl needed either a much bigger start or much stronger word of mouth. It appears to have neither.

Disclosure Day Holds Respectably

Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day finished fifth with $6 million, down only about 27% from the previous weekend. That is a decent hold for the original sci-fi thriller, especially after losing some screens and facing renewed family competition.

The movie has now reached about $105.3 million domestic. Its run has not turned into a true breakout after its strong opening, but it remains one of the more important original studio releases of the summer.

For Universal, the film is a mixed but meaningful result. It proved that an original sci-fi movie from a major filmmaker can still open and hold an adult audience. It may not become one of the year’s top global titles, but it still adds needed variety to a summer dominated by animation, horror, and franchise films.

Obsession and Backrooms Keep the Gen-Z Horror Story Alive

The low-budget horror wave is finally slowing, but it has not disappeared.

Obsession earned $5.3 million in its eighth weekend, bringing its domestic total to about $245.3 million. That is an extraordinary run for a film reportedly made for under $1 million. Even after weeks of direct competition, it remains in the top 10 and continues to look like one of the most profitable movies of the year.

Backrooms followed in seventh place with $3.3 million, bringing its domestic total to about $190.5 million. Its global total is even more impressive, with the film reportedly around $356 million worldwide. For A24, this remains a landmark commercial win and a major proof point for internet-born horror.

Together, Obsession and Backrooms continue to show that younger audiences will go to theaters when the movie feels social, strange, and connected to online culture. The genre is no longer just a low-budget side lane. In 2026, it has become one of the box office’s most important engines.

Jackass and Scary Movie Fade Fast

Jackass: Best and Last fell to eighth with $2.7 million, down sharply in its second weekend. The movie’s domestic total is now around $14–15 million, which is modest but not catastrophic given its lower reported production cost.

Scary Movie also continued to slide, earning $1.1 million in its fifth weekend. The comedy reboot has crossed $106 million domestic, so it already did its job commercially. But its run has clearly been front-loaded.

Both films point to the same reality: nostalgia comedy can still open or generate interest, but it may not have the same long-term theatrical pull unless the word-of-mouth is especially strong. The audience will show up for the initial event, then move on quickly.

The Invite Has a Strong Limited-Release Expansion

The most interesting smaller story of the weekend was The Invite. The A24 comedy expanded to 28 theaters and earned about $800,708, giving it an impressive per-theater average of roughly $28,600.

That is a strong result for a limited adult-skewing release and suggests the film may have room to grow when it expands wider. With Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton in the cast, The Invite has the kind of ensemble that could attract adult audiences looking for something outside the franchise and horror lanes.

A24 has already had a huge year with Backrooms, but The Invite could give the studio a very different kind of summer success if it continues to build.

The Bigger Story: July 4 Was Solid, But Not Huge

The July 4 weekend had a clear winner, a strong animated holdover, a well-timed patriotic opener, and a few meaningful specialty stories. But overall, it was not a massive holiday frame.

The domestic weekend was down about 24% compared with last year, though the summer box office remains up nearly 12% from 2025. That captures the state of the market pretty well: 2026 is healthy overall, but not every weekend or franchise is equally strong.

The biggest takeaway is selectivity. Audiences are still going to theaters, but they are choosing carefully. Toy Story 5 feels essential. Obsession and Backrooms felt like online-driven cultural moments. Young Washington found a holiday-specific audience. The Invite is building through limited-release buzz.

Meanwhile, Supergirl shows what happens when familiar IP does not feel urgent enough. Minions & Monsters shows that even a reliable global franchise can still win the weekend while showing signs of wear.

The box office is not weak. It is uneven, and that is a different problem.

International Box Office

Internationally, Minions & Monsters had a stronger story than it did domestically. The film reached about $160 million worldwide in its debut week, including its five-day North American launch and overseas openings. Entertainment Weekly reported that the film earned $121.4 million worldwide over the weekend since going wide, on top of another $38 million from earlier international markets.

That global result makes the film much healthier than the domestic opening alone would suggest. With a reported budget around $85 million, Minions & Monsters is still positioned to become profitable, even if it is clearly running below past franchise highs.

Toy Story 5 is still the bigger animated giant overall, reaching about $764.3 million worldwide after three weekends. It has already passed most 2026 releases and remains on track for a possible run toward $1 billion if it holds well through July.

Supergirl continued to struggle globally, earning about $19 million worldwide for the weekend and showing little evidence of a major international rescue. That is a tough sign for a superhero film with a large reported budget.

Backrooms has climbed to about $356 million worldwide, while Obsession remains a massive domestic-driven profitability story with $245.3 million domestic alone. Michael is still near the top of the 2026 worldwide chart at roughly $978.6 million, putting it close to the $1 billion milestone, while The Super Mario Galaxy Movie remains the year’s global leader at just over $1 billion.

Bottom line: Minions & Monsters won the July 4 weekend, but the victory was softer than the franchise is used to. Toy Story 5 remains the stronger overall animated story, Young Washington found perfect holiday timing, and Supergirl continued its sharp decline.