Minions and Supergirl Struggle at the Box Office, Indicating Franchise Fatigue Among Audiences

This Fourth of July weekend turned out to be a rough one for some major franchises at the box office. The poorly received Supergirl experienced a significant drop in its second weekend, while even the anticipated Minions & Monsters fell short of expectations with a lackluster opening.

Illumination’s Minions films usually dominate the box office, making it surprising to see reports that Minions & Monsters only raked in $61.4 million over its first five days during the holiday, with just $36.4 million for the three-day weekend. For comparison, Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie had a staggering $190.1 million five-day opening back in April. While Minions & Monsters’ debut isn’t a total disaster, it certainly doesn’t align with historical performance.

On the other hand, Supergirl is estimated to have earned only $9.6 million this weekend, marking a staggering 74% drop from the previous week, and even falling short of the gross for Angel Studios’ controversial Young Washington. While Minions & Monsters might still find some traction for a decent box office run, Supergirl is clearly struggling.

According to reports, here are the top ten films at the domestic box office for the Fourth of July three-day weekend:

Despite the presence of new Minions, Toy Story, DC, Scary Movie, and Jackass films in theaters, this holiday weekend was not particularly strong for box office numbers. The topic of franchise fatigue is hotly debated, but weekends like this suggest that simply being a franchise doesn’t guarantee a blockbuster hit in 2026.

That said, not all franchises are facing doom at the box office; Toy Story 5 is performing well. However, there was a seven-year gap between Toy Story 4 and its sequel, which is significantly longer than the one- to two-year gaps seen with recent DC and Despicable Me/Minions releases. Like any film today, franchises must work hard to generate audience demand, especially if viewers feel they’ve recently seen something similar.

Whether studios are launching a superhero flick like Supergirl or a family-friendly animation like Minions & Monsters, the reality of franchise fatigue is something they need to consider more than ever.