The little yellow chaos agents are back, and this time they've set their sights on Old Hollywood. Minions & Monsters rolled into North American theaters on July 1, 2026, timed squarely for the long Fourth of July frame, and for a few days it will own the multiplex. The seventh film in Universal and Illumination's Despicable Me universe is a prequel to everything we know about the franchise, a screwball origin story dressed up as a monster movie. And whether or not it hits its box-office marks, it has already done something no Minions film has done before: won over the critics.
What Happened
Universal opened Minions & Monsters wide on Wednesday, July 1, across roughly 4,000 North American theaters, positioning it as the anchor release of the July 4 holiday weekend. Studio tracking has the film aiming for around $80 million over the five-day domestic frame, with the broader industry spread landing anywhere between $60 million and $90 million depending on how the holiday plays out. Globally, the picture is brighter: trade forecasts pegged a worldwide bow near $170 million, the kind of number that makes a family tentpole look healthy on opening.
The story is a departure. Set in the 1920s, decades before the events of 2015's Minions, the film drops the babbling horde into the silent-era boomtown of early Hollywood with a single ambition: to become movie stars. Their plan is to shoot a monster epic of their own. The problem, naturally, is that in chasing the perfect on-screen creature they end up unleashing real monsters on the world. Pierre Coffin, the co-creator who has voiced the Minions since the beginning, directs from a script he co-wrote with franchise veteran Brian Lynch.
The voice ensemble leans starrier than usual, with Trey Parker, Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeff Bridges, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan and Phil LaMarr all lending their pipes. One notable absence: Steve Carell, the voice of Gru across the mainline films, sits this prequel out, which fits a story set long before Gru was ever born.
Why It Matters
For Universal, the Minions are not just a movie brand; they are an economic engine. The Despicable Me franchise is one of the most profitable in animation history, and its yellow mascots power everything from theme-park lands to an endless river of merchandise. Each new installment is less a standalone bet than a scheduled deposit into a very large bank account, which is why the studio keeps planting its Minions flags on the calendar's most lucrative weekends.
That said, the tracking tells a more interesting story than a simple victory lap. The two most recent entries, 2022's Minions: The Rise of Gru and 2024's Despicable Me 4, both launched to roughly $122–123 million over the same five-day July 4 stretch. A projected $80 million start would mark a franchise low for the holiday, a sign that even the most bankable brands are not immune to a shifting theatrical landscape and a crowded family marketplace.
There is a calendar quirk working against everyone this year, too. With the United States marking its 250th anniversary and July 4 falling on a Saturday, analysts expect a lot of would-be moviegoers to trade the multiplex for backyard barbecues and fireworks. When the busiest moviegoing day of the week collides with the country's biggest party, even a Minions movie has to share the spotlight.
Reaction
Here is the twist nobody quite expected: the critics like it. Minions & Monsters opened with the strongest reviews of any film in the Minions line, sitting at a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes across an early sample of dozens of reviews. For a series that has always been more beloved by kids and meme-makers than by reviewers, a "fresh" rating in the nineties is a genuine plot twist.
The warmer reception seems tied to the film's swing for something different. Trading the modern-day slapstick for a period setting and a monster-movie framework gave writers room to play, and the 1920s Hollywood backdrop hands the animators a gorgeous, art-deco sandbox. Audiences, for their part, showed up early for the Wednesday and Thursday previews, hoping to beat the holiday rush before the fireworks started.
What's Next
The immediate question is how the five-day holiday actually shakes out. If the film holds toward the top of its range, Universal will happily spin an $80-million-plus start into a global success story built on that $170 million worldwide projection. If it slips toward the floor, expect a wave of think-pieces about franchise fatigue and the health of the family box office heading deeper into summer.
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Beyond the opening, the release follows the now-familiar theatrical-to-streaming rhythm. Universal's recent animated hits have moved to Peacock after a roughly four-month window, so families who skip the theater this July will not have to wait terribly long to catch the Minions' Hollywood misadventure at home. And given the franchise's track record, a strong hold through July would only strengthen the case for wherever Illumination decides to send its little yellow stars next.
Closing Thoughts
There is something fitting about the Minions making a movie about making movies. Nearly two decades into their reign, they have become a kind of cinematic constant, the dependable summer visitors who show up, cause mayhem and send everyone home smiling. A prequel set at the dawn of Hollywood is a sly little wink at their own longevity, a reminder that these characters have quietly outlasted plenty of bigger, louder franchises.
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Whether Minions & Monsters tops the charts or merely leads a quieter holiday, its best trick may be the critical goodwill it has earned by daring to try something new. In a summer full of sequels playing it safe, a monster movie about tiny yellow dreamers chasing stardom in 1920s Hollywood feels, improbably, like a breath of fresh air.
한글 요약
유니버설과 일루미네이션의 미니언즈 & 몬스터즈가 7월 1일 북미 약 4,000개 극장에서 개봉하며 독립기념일 연휴 박스오피스 선두로 나섰습니다. 슈퍼배드(Despicable Me) 시리즈의 일곱 번째 작품이자 프리퀄로, 1920년대 올드 할리우드를 배경으로 영화 스타를 꿈꾸는 미니언들이 몬스터 영화를 찍으려다 실제 괴물을 풀어놓는 소동을 그립니다. 피에르 코팽이 연출과 미니언 목소리를 맡았고, 트레이 파커·앨리슨 재니·크리스토프 발츠 등이 목소리로 참여했습니다.
5일간 연휴 성적은 약 8,000만 달러 안팎, 넓게는 6,000만~9,000만 달러로 전망되며 글로벌 오프닝은 약 1억 7,000만 달러가 예상됩니다. 다만 2022년 미니언즈2와 2024년 슈퍼배드4가 같은 연휴에 1억 2,200만~1억 2,300만 달러로 출발했던 것과 비교하면 시리즈 최저 오프닝이 될 수 있습니다. 미국 건국 250주년과 토요일에 걸친 독립기념일이 관객을 야외 행사로 분산시킬 것이라는 분석도 나옵니다.
흥행 전망과 별개로 작품성 평가는 역대 최고입니다. 로튼 토마토 신선도 90%로 미니언즈 시리즈 사상 가장 높은 평점을 기록했는데, 시대극과 몬스터 영화라는 새로운 시도가 호평의 배경으로 꼽힙니다. 향후 4개월가량의 극장 상영 후 피콕(Peacock) 스트리밍 공개가 예상되며, 연휴 성적이 시리즈의 다음 행보를 가늠하는 지표가 될 전망입니다.