'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Families went bananas for Minions this weekend at the movie theatre. "Minions: The Rise of Gru " brought in an estimated US$108.5 million in ticket sales from 4,391 screens in North America, Universal Pictures said Sunday. By the end of the Monday's July Fourth holiday, it will likely have earned over $127.9 million.
The film is on track to become biggest openings ever for a July Fourth holiday weekend, a record previously held by "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" which made $115.9 million in its first four days in 2011. Including international showings, where "Minions: The Rise of Gru" is playing in 61 markets, its worldwide gross is sitting at $202.2 million through Sunday.
"It's a tremendous debut," said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution. "It's playing very broadly across North America. Every single market doing extraordinarily well."
This is just the latest in a string of successes for Universal's family releases, including "Sing 2," which has grossed over $406 million since opening in December, and "The Bad Guys," which has made over $243 million. "Minions: The Rise of Gru" serves as further proof that family audiences are willing to go back to the movie theatre.
"Families feel very comfortable bringing all their kids to the theatre," Orr said. "These results speak for themselves."
"Minions 2" attracted all ages to the theatre, even the very young. According to PostTrak surveys, 12 per cent were under the age of 10.
"For many months there was this idea that family audiences were not going to come back to the theatre. We can put that to rest," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.
The spinoff of the popular "Despicable Me" series was delayed two years because of the pandemic. The sequel to the 2015 film "Minions" was originally slated for a July 2020 release. While many other animated family films opted for streaming or hybrid releases, "Minions," much like "Top Gun: Maverick," stayed the course and waited for an ideal time to launch in theatres only. And as with "Top Gun" the wait, it seems, was worth it.
"This became an event. It was a holiday weekend, the release date was perfect, the marketing was spot on," Dergarabedian said. "And everyone knew this was going to be in theatres only."
The voice cast features Steve Carell, reprising his role as Gru, Alan Arkin, Michelle Yeoh and Julie Andrews as Gru's mother. Critics were mixed to positive (it currently has a 72 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes) but audiences were more enthusiastic, giving the Gru origin story an A CinemaScore.
Universal and Illumination have had enormous success with the five "Despicable Me" movies and spinoffs, which date back to 2010 and have earned over $3.7 billion at the global box office.
In second place was "Top Gun: Maverick," which continues to deliver six weeks in, adding another $25.5 million to its total, which has already surpassed $1 billion. The Paramount Pictures film is still playing in 3,843 locations.
Warner Bros.' "Elvis" took third place, down only 39 per cent in its second weekend in theatres. The Baz Luhrmann film grossed an estimated $19 million through Sunday, bringing its domestic total to $67.3 million.
Fourth and fifth place went to Universal titles as well with "Jurassic World: Dominion" picking up another $15.7 million and the horror movie "The Black Phone" adding $12.3 million through Sunday.
Disney's "Lightyear," meanwhile, tumbled further in its third weekend with an estimated $6.5 million. By Monday, that total should raise to $8.1 million bringing its cumulative earnings to $106.9 million.
Bleecker Street released " Mr. Malcolm's List " this weekend on 1,384 screens in the U.S. and Canada. The Regency-era comedy of manners stars Freida Pinto and Zawe Ashton as friends looking to get back at a picky bachelor. The studio estimates that the film will have $851,853 by end of Sunday and over $1 million by end of Monday.
Audiences are also still catching up with A24's "Everything Everywhere All At Once," which added an estimated $552,000 from 607 screens, in spite of the fact that it's also available to rent on demand. The studio's newer title, "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On," expanded to 22 screens this weekend and is expected to earn about $308,000 by the end of Monday.
According to Comscore, the weekend as a whole will go down as one of the biggest of the pandemic era. And the momentum is expected to continue with the release of Marvel's "Thor: Love and Thunder" next week.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "Minions: The Rise of Gru," $108.5 million.
2. "Top Gun: Maverick," $25.5 million.
3. "Elvis," $19 million.
4. "Jurassic World: Dominion," $15.7 million.
5. "The Black Phone," $12.3 million.
6. "Lightyear," $6.6 million.
7. "Mr. Malcolm's List, $851,853.
8. "Everything Everywhere All at Once," $551,974.
9. "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," $390,000.
10. "JugJugg Jeeyo," $318,000.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.