'Minions' has a record-setting opening weekend at the box office
The lovable yellow beings from "Despicable Me" showed they can carry a film as their first standalone: "Minions' took in $115.2 million in North America over the weekend.
That's the second-largest animated opening in history, according to Variety.
The record holder is 2007's "Shrek the Third," which earned $121.6 million on its debut weekend.
Though the story of the silly Minions working under super-villains voiced by Jon Hamm and Sandra Bullock had an estimated budget of only $74 million, the publicity and promotion for the film was nearly $600 million, according to Bloomberg Business.
This record-setting opening continues the hot summer for Universal Studios, which released the film. Its previous releases, "Furious 7" and "Jurassic World," have each surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, with "World" boasting the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time.
The other new releases this weekend didn't put up much of a fight.
Horror film "The Gallows" took in $10 million domestically, while Ryan Reynolds' latest, "Self/less," is another clunker for the actor, as it only grossed $5.4 million. But the good news for Reynolds is if Comic-Con is any indication, his upcoming "Deadpool" will fair much better.