Minions & Monsters Tops July 4 Box Office, Beats Toy Story 5

“Minions & Monsters” took the top spot at the North American box office over the Fourth of July holiday frame, finishing ahead of “Toy Story 5” in a closely watched showdown between two major animated franchises.

The new release opened with $36.4 million, according to MyNewsLA.com. That start was enough to put it in first place for the holiday period, pushing “Toy Story 5” off the No. 1 perch after it had been leading the domestic chart.

The holiday result capped a busy stretch for theaters, with family audiences again driving ticket sales. Multiple outlets described the weekend as an “animated brawl,” with “Minions & Monsters” and “Toy Story 5” trading attention as the market leaned into kid-friendly options for the long weekend.

Even with the No. 1 finish, coverage of “Minions & Monsters” characterized the opening as softer than expected and, in some reports, the lowest premiere of the franchise. The film still managed to clear the field at a time when competition from another large-scale animated title could have split the audience more sharply.

That matters for studios and exhibitors because Fourth of July is a key mid-summer checkpoint. The holiday can serve as a test of how much demand remains for theatrical family releases and whether big brands can sustain momentum when more than one major animated film is in wide release at the same time.

It also matters for the “Toy Story” brand. Being overtaken during a holiday frame is a notable shift, even if the race is described as close. The weekend indicates that audiences had another strong option in multiplexes, and that the “Minions” franchise continues to command enough attention to lead the domestic box office when it launches.

The next several days will show whether “Minions & Monsters” can hold its lead after the holiday bump fades and weekday attendance patterns return. Box office watchers will also be tracking how “Toy Story 5” performs in its subsequent frame, and whether the two films continue to compete tightly as summer schedules move forward.

For now, the holiday finish is clear: “Minions & Monsters” claimed the top banana at the Fourth of July box office, edging out “Toy Story 5” in a headline-making animated matchup.