“Minions” ruled the weekend box office, racking up a massive $115.2 million in North America, for the second biggest animated film opening in history.
The Universal and Illumination Entertainment spin-off to “Despicable Me” just missed the domestic record set by “Shrek the Third’s” $121.6 million kickoff in 2007, while continuing animation maestro Chris Meledandri’s hot streak at the multiplexes. “Minions” cost $74 million to produce, a modest number considering that Pixar and DreamWorks Animation routinely spend north of $100 million on their animated features.
