AMC Theatres Says July 4 Holiday Box Office Drew 4.2M Moviegoers

Backed by animated tentpoles like Despicable Me 4 and Inside Out 2 , AMC Theatres reported a festive July 4 holiday.

Box Office: 'Despicable Me 4' Rules July 4th With $122M Opening, 'MaXXXine' Scares Up $6.7M

The return of Gru and his Minions ruled the Fourth of July box office for the Universal and Illumination release with an estimated five-day domestic opening of $122.6 million from 4,428 theaters. The result had AMC Theatres pointing to 4.2 million patrons drawn during the July 3 to 7 period. That marked AMC’s busiest domestic Wednesday through Sunday period in 2024, and AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron talked up the latest box office rebound for Hollywood titles at the local multiplex.

“Needless to say, we are quite pleased to see the strong showing from our U.S. moviegoers during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. … It’s also important to note that AMC’s weekend was driven by the wide-ranging appeal of several movies that offer distinct and diverse options,” Aron said in a statement on Monday.

As family animated movies perform at the beginning of the third quarter, the Despicable Me 4 premiere put Pixar and Disney’s Inside Out 2 , which debuted in June, in second place in the box office league table in its fourth weekend with an estimated three-day weekend gross of $30 million from 3,760 locations for a domestic gross $533.8 million.

'Twisters': Mother Nature Is the Biggest Draw for Audiences

“July starts off with some fireworks,” Erik Handler, managing director of Roth — MKM, said in a July 8 research note, as he pointed to box office revenue up 21 percent year-on-year after the third quarter kicked off last week.

But Roth cautioned the 2024 Hollywood box office will face tough comparisons to last year as next weekend will see the new Fly Me to the Moon release go up against the year-earlier debut of Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. And the following weekend will see Twisters take on last year’s box office competition from Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Despite optimism for a strong premiere forecast later this month by Deadpool & Wolverine , Roth predicts third quarter 2024 box office receipts will be down a modest 6 percent, compared to the 2023 performance.

Box Office: 'Despicable Me 4' Heads for Sparkly $120M July 4 Opening, 'Inside Out 2' Crosses $500M in U.S.