Minions & Monsters earned the franchise’s best critics score ever, but audiences had a very different reaction. The gap between the film’s Rotten Tomatoes ratings explains its record-low box office opening.
Minions & Monsters’ Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score tells a different story
Illumination’s Minions & Monsters holds a 90% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 155 critics. The film’s audience score sits at just 75% from over 1,000 verified ratings, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Opening-day audiences also gave the Pierre Coffin-directed film an A- CinemaScore.
The gap between critics and audiences paints a telling picture for the seventh franchise installment. Critics praised the film as an affectionate sendup of Hollywood history and classic moviemaking magic. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus called it the franchise’s most roundly enjoyable entry yet. Audiences, however, clearly did not share the same level of enthusiasm for the animated sequel.
The A- CinemaScore initially suggested the film could enjoy strong box office legs beyond opening weekend. CinemaScore polls moviegoers directly on opening night and has measured audience appeal since 1978. That positive grade led many to project a domestic five-day haul of around $80 million.
The lower audience score, however, aligned more closely with the film’s actual box office performance. Minions & Monsters debuted to just $61.4 million over its five-day domestic start, per Deadline. That figure marks the weakest domestic opening in the entire Despicable Me and Minions franchise history.
Past entries launched considerably stronger on their respective opening days. Despicable Me 2 posted a $35 million Wednesday debut back in July 2013. Minions & Monsters earned only $14.23 million on its Wednesday opening without preview screenings.
Universal domestic distribution boss Jim Orr remained upbeat despite the numbers. “Illumination once again provides global audiences with a film that audiences are embracing,” Orr said. International markets provided some relief as the worldwide opening reached $146.4 million across 72 territories.
