MINIONS & MONSTERS STUMBLES AT THE BOX OFFICE

Uh-oh! The Minions aren't getting quite the royal treatment fans expected. According to The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, Illumination and Universal's Minions & Monsters is heading toward a $63.5M–$64.5M five-day U.S. opening — well below the studio's hoped-for $80M. While the movie is still crushing it as the No. 1 film in North America, the numbers tell a story of softer-than-anticipated fan enthusiasm.

For context, the franchise's last adventure, Despicable Me 4, dropped into theaters two years ago with a massive $122 million five-day opening. So yeah, there's definitely a noticeable dip this time around. The film's already No. 1 at 4,243 theaters with a three-day take of $38.5M, but those lower-than-expected numbers are raising eyebrows across the industry.

Still, heading toward the $60M+ mark for a five-day frame is nothing to sneeze at — plenty of movies would dream of that kind of launch. Whether audiences will keep coming back for repeat viewings and whether word-of-mouth can boost legs over the coming weeks remains the big question for the Minions' latest caper.