WASHINGTON, July 6 — The latest chapter in the lowbrow but lucrative Minions franchise debuted atop the North American box office this weekend, edging out another popular animation series in Toy Story, industry estimates showed Sunday.

Universal’s Minions & Monsters — featuring the gibberish-spouting yellow creatures who stole the show in multiple Despicable Me films — pulled in US$36.4 million (RM148 million) in the Friday-to-Sunday period, which Exhibitor Relations said was the franchise’s lowest opening.

The film, a chaotic gag-filled take on early Hollywood, raked in an additional US$98 million from international showings.

Minions displaced Toy Story 5 from the top spot, two weeks after the Disney-Pixar offering took home the year’s best opening weekend in North America, at US$160 million.

The sequel — featuring Woody the cowboy, Buzz Lightyear and their gang of toys fighting for survival against competition from screen-based tech — came in second with another US$31 million.

Debuting at third spot with US$20.8 million on this Independence Day weekend was the historical epic Young Washington, about an American founding father earning his military stripes during the French and Indian War, decades before commanding the Continental Army during the American revolution.

Released by independent Angel Studios, known as a faith-based operation that eschews traditional Hollywood approaches, the film features stars Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis and Mary-Louise Parker and showcases William Franklyn-Mille as Washington.

Slipping two spots to fourth was Supergirl, a Warner Bros sci-fi effort starring Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, a cousin of Superman who also possesses superhuman strength. It earned US$9.6 million in its second weekend.

Holding on to fifth place is the Stephen Spielberg-directed sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day, which earned US$6 million for a current total of US$105 million.

With an ensemble cast led by Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor, the action-packed Universal film follows an effort to reveal a decades-long coverup of extraterrestrial visitations.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

Obsession (US$5.3 million)

Backrooms (US$3.3 million)

Jackass: Best and Last (US$2.7 million)

Scary Movie (US$1.1 million)

The Invite (US$800,000) — AFP