Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru blew up last night, earning the best previews for an animated movie during the pandemic and opening with $10.75M. Showtimes started yesterday at 2 p.m., and the movie is showing in 3,350 theaters. That presumably sets the movie up for a huge opening weekend. The numbers put. Rise of Gru ahead of Despicable Me 3’s $4.1M Thursday night previews, which led to a $72.4M opening weekend, as well as Marvel’s Eternals (via Deadline). The film, which marks the fifth installment in the Despicable Me franchise to hit theaters, is riding high on Rotten Tomatoes, with a score of 85%, which is significantly better than the first Minions movie. And it has the benefit, in terms of box office potential, of being released on a holiday weekend, where Monday is likely to see a lot more people at theaters than the average start of the work week.
