Universal’s ‘Minions’ swarms box office with $115.2M haul

With one large eye on weekend domination, “Minions” easily topped the competition for a No. 1 debut Friday at the box office.

That include $6.2 million earned Thursday night. Those characters previously tried to make it on their own in showcase films, and while Puss in Boots had mild success, the Penguins were a significant disappointment.

The current record-holder for the biggest three-day animated opening is Shrek the Third ($122.5 million), followed by Toy Story 3 ($110.3 million).

Though the Minions are obviously likable, the story here is just OK. The only question is by how much.

Since the time I saw Despicable Maine 1 & 2, I fell in love with those tiny, yellow, blabbering Minions of Gru. After all, it’s the same franchise and also debuted in July. The final numbers will be released Monday, July 13.

UPDATE: “Minions” is heading for a powerful performance at the US box office with a whopping $118 million opening weekend, according to late Friday afternoon forecasts.

Overseas, where the Illumination Entertainment and Universal prequel began rolling out in select markets two weekends ago, Minions is already a blockbuster and will cross the $200 million mark on Friday.

Warner Bros.’ found-footage horror film “The Gallows” took in $900,000 in Thursday night previews. With a reported budget of $100,000, this film followed the Blumhouse model of development and marketing, and while it won’t necessarily be as huge as some of the company’s other hits, (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge), it will nonetheless get the job done.

Ryan Reynolds starrer Self/Less opened to US$2 million in 2,353 locations. Awful reviews did the film no favor, although at least you can expect something that looks a little different than usual with Tarsem Singh at the helm. That would push “Inside Out” past $280 million domestically by the end of the weekend, while the dino thriller should eclipse $585 million in the U.S.

We have one surprise in the top 10. “Minions” proved plenty of people wanted to have an early viewing of the film, raking in $6.2 million at 2,985 USA locations.

So many moviegoers are flocking to Minions this weekend that the film will also top its two predecessors. $3 million in the United States for opening weekend will make some financiers very pleased.

Terminator Genisys could bring in around $13 million for a fourth-place finish. The Channing Tatum-starring feature is expected to grab around $10 million at the box office.