‘Minions’, ‘Thor’ push monthly box office past $1 billion for the first time since the pandemic began

Universal Pictures

It took a bunch of yellow mumblers and the gods of thunder to do what hasn’t been done since the COVID-19 pandemic began: push the domestic box office past the billion dollar mark for a single summer month.

July began with Minions: The Rise of Gru becoming a blockbuster right out of the gate. Perhaps due in part to the “Gentleminions” TikTok trend, the movie starring the voice of Steve Carell opened to more than $100 million in the States, setting a July 4 box office record. That movie has since passed $300 million on these shores.

Thor: Love and Thunder opened July 8 to $143 million, on its way to a domestic haul of $280 million as July comes to a close.

Also still boosting the box office for the month of July is the year’s biggest film, Top Gun: Maverick. That film has made $637 million domestically and nearly $1.3 billion worldwide.

The Wrap points out that also contributing to July’s $1.1 billion finish was the late June release Elvis, which has made more than $70 million here, as well as last weekend’s $49 million opening of Jordan Peele‘s Nope.

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