By Janet H. Cho

Universal Studios' and Illumination's Minions & Monsters movie, the latest animated adventure starring the manic yellow creatures from Despicable Me, is expected to rake in more than $100 million in domestic box office during its first five days, giving Hollywood another strong holiday movie weekend.

Minions & Monsters is the latest hit in a record-breaking year for Universal and for Hollywood, which is on pace for its highest-revenue year since 2019.

Minions & Monsters, which opened Wednesday, is expected to gross $105 million to $110 million through Sunday. Of that, between $70 million to $75 million is expected from Friday through Sunday.

Last year's Fourth of July weekend was led by Universal's Jurassic World: Rebirth, which grossed $92 million in domestic box office sales in its first weekend during an overall $157 million weekend, according to Rentrak.

"When the 4th of July falls on a Saturday, ... that's not generally good for the movie business because people are watching fireworks or being involved in festivities, especially on Saturday, the biggest movie-going day of the week," Rentrak's head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian said.

Domestic box office through June 28 is $4.72 billion, up 15% from last year, according to Rentrak. The summer box office since May 1 is $2.14 billion, up 16.8% over the same period last summer, and down 3.6% from the summer of 2019.

May's movies, starting with Walt Disney's and 20th Century Studios' The Devil Wears Prada 2 , generated more than $1.06 billion cumulatively in domestic box office, and June's movies generated even more, at nearly $1.08 billion, according to Rentrak. That's well ahead of $885 million last June and $979 million in June 2024.

"This is great news for movie theaters and studios as the $1 billion-dollar mark was the consistent threshold for earnings power in June for 2012 through 2019 and has proven elusive since 2020," Dergarabedian said.

Walt Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5 was the top film this June, selling $318.9 million in its first 12 days (June 19-30). Its predecessor, Toy Story 4, was the top movie in June 2019, with $238.7 million in domestic box office that month.

Warner Bros.' presentation of DC Studios' Supergirl, meanwhile, sold only $37.1 million in its domestic debut last weekend (including $7.4 million on IMAX screens) and $30 million internationally, which Roth senior media and entertainment analyst Eric Handler called "softer than expected." Variety reported, citing a source close to the film, that considering its $170 million production budget, not including marketing, the movie needs to sell closer to $300 million to break even.

But Dergarabedian said Supergirl could benefit from moviegoers' Fourth of July patriotism. "It's not just how a film does opening weekend, but how it does over the long haul," he said. "When a movie has 'legs,' that's money in the bank."

Hollywood's last $1 billion June was in 2023, when Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse led the month, contributing $331.8 million toward that June's $1.01 billion total.

"Universal Pictures is having an incredibly strong year not just in terms of sheer box office revenue, but in the diversity of genres that they're presenting to moviegoers," Dergarabedian said. Its string of hits include Steven Spielberg-directed Disclosure Day , which has sold $96.9 million domestically and $197.4 million worldwide since June 12, and Nintendo's The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which has sold more than $429.8 million domestically and $1 billion worldwide since opening April 1.

The brisk volume of releases this year has been welcomed by theater companies. AMC Entertainment Holdings, the nation's largest movie theater chain, said Toy Story 5's $160 million in opening weekend ticket sales from June 18-21, along with other holdover hit movies, delivered its busiest weekend at U.S. theaters this year, drawing more than 4.8 million moviegoers.

Cinemark Holdings, the nation's third-largest theater chain behind AMC and privately held Regal Cineworld Group, also credited Toy Story 5, along with Disclosure Day and Obsession , for delivering its best-ever June domestic box office and its highest per-person weekend food and beverage sales ever. Barron's Investor Circle named Cinemark a stock pick on June 9.

Marcus Theaters, the nation's fourth-largest theater chain, also reported its highest June revenue, its highest admission revenue per-person, and its highest monthly concession, merchandise, and food and beverage sales in company history.

"More significantly, based on the domestic box office, we estimate that over 90 million people attended the movies in June," Marcus Theaters said.

This weekend's other offerings include Sony Pictures' Thrash, an R-rated horror thriller about a Category 5 hurricane that devastates a coastal town, bringing chaos, destruction, and hungry sharks, and Angel's Young Washington, a PG-13-rated action film about the impossible choices facing George Washington.

On Sunday, IMAX is showing F1 Live in IMAX: The Silverstone Grand Prix, giving Formula 1 fans an exclusive opportunity to experience the race live on the world's most immersive screens.

July's box office is widely expected to surpass June, with upcoming potential hits including Disney's live-action Moana (opening on July 10), Universal Pictures' The Odyssey (July 17), and Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31).

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com

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