DESPICABLE ME 4 on Track for Box Office Bonanza Opening Weekend
By Movieguide® Contributor
Universal Pictures is betting on DESPICABLE ME 4 for a box office bonanza.
The studio is releasing the latest installment in the popular movie franchise on the Wednesday before the July 4 weekend to boost earnings, and Deadline reported Universal is “targeting a $100M+ over 5-days, likely more.”
Box Office Theory’s projections for DESPICABLE ME 4 are slightly lower but still predict a big opening weekend for the movie — “$61 and $74 million across the Friday to Sunday weekend stretch.”
The previous DESPICABLE ME movies were all high-earners at the box office, with DESPICABLE ME 3 and MINIONS both making $1 billion. 2022’s THE RISE OF GRU also hit big, taking in $940 million. Additionally, DESPICABLE ME and DESPICABLE ME 2 both won Teddy® Awards.
DESPICABLE ME 4 will no doubt continue this hot streak. The movie features Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig and Miranda Cosgrove reprising their roles, as well as new faces Will Ferrell and Sophia Vergara.
“I think [Steve’s] performance defined what we look for in other actors to support that character,” director Chris Renaud told Animation Magazine. “We want to be cooking up kind of a bigger-than-life version of these characters. Steve is obviously doing an accent, and it’s got real scale to it. And that’s really what we look for in people that are going to be part of this universe as well.”
He continued, “For me, personally, I love working with comedians and I love working with people who can take their characters over the top and find the humor in everything that happens. That’s why a lot of people we work with are comedians and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE alums. It’s because that show is essentially character creation. Our characters really require a lot of broadness, and because the actors are often comedians or from SNL, they are perfect to fill out these animated characters.”
Movieguide® previously reported on DESPICABLE ME 4:
Universal and Illumination recently revealed what’s to come for one of their biggest franchises, releasing the first trailer for DESPICABLE ME 4.
The trailer introduces a whole cast of new characters, including Gru’s newest rival, Maxime Le Mal, voiced by Will Ferrell, and his femme fatale girlfriend, Valentina (Sofia Vergara), along with Gru’s new baby boy, Gru Jr. The movie will also introduce characters voiced by Joey King, Stephen Colbert and Chloe Fineman.
The sequel will continue to follow Gru’s adventures as an agent of the Anti-Villian League, of which he has been a part since the second movie.
Along with the exciting new additions to the franchise, DESPICABLE ME 4 will feature returning actors Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Diana Gaier, Madison Polan, Pierre Coffin and Steve Coogan.
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