Minions and Supergirl’s rough weekend shows audiences are feeling franchise fatigue

This Fourth of July weekend wasn’t a good one for well-known franchises at the box office. The poorly received Supergirl suffered a massive drop in its second weekend in theaters, while even Minions & Monsters came in under expectations with a weak opening.

Illumination’s Minions movies are typically runaway hits at the box office. That’s why it was surprising to see Deadline report Minions & Monsters only grossed $61.4 million over its first five days over the holiday, and just $36.4 million during the three-day weekend. For reference, Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie had a $190.1 million five-day opening in April. Minions & Monsters‘ opening isn’t disastrous, but it’s just not what you’d historically expect.

Meanwhile, Supergirl is estimated to have only grossed $9.6 million this weekend, which is a 74% week-over-week drop and is even less than the gross for Angel Studios’ controversial Young Washington. While Minions & Monsters can potentially have legs for a decent box-office run, Supergirl is definitely a flop.

According to Deadline, these were the top ten films at the domestic box office of the Fourth of July three-day weekend:

1. Minions & Monsters: $36.4 million
2. Toy Story 5: $31 million
3. Young Washington: $20.8 million
4. Supergirl: $9.6 million
5. Disclosure Day: $6 million
6. Obsession: $5.3 million
7. Backrooms: $3.3 million
8. Jackass: Best and Last: $2.7 million
9. Scary Movie: $1.1 million
10. The Invite: $800,700

Even with new Minions, Toy Story, DC, Scary Movie, and Jackass flicks playing concurrently in theaters, this was not a strong holiday weekend for the box office. While the idea of franchise fatigue is a hotly debated topic, weekends like this indicate that franchise status does not guarantee a massive box-office hit in 2026.

That’s not to say all franchises are doomed at the box office, as Toy Story 5 is doing well. There was a seven-year gap between Toy Story 4 and its sequel, though, which is much longer than the one and two-year gaps seen between recent DC and Despicable Me/Minions releases. Like any movie released today, franchises need to work hard to create demand from audiences, especially if they feel like they recently watched something similar.

Whether studios are releasing a superhero movie like Supergirl or a kids-oriented animation like Minions & Monsters, franchise fatigue is something they now need to take into account more than ever before.