• Box Office

German Speaking Box Office July 5, 2022

It was the week of not so ‘Minion’-mal shakeups in the German top ten. The sequel of the cute, animated characters took the charts by storm, beating dinosaurs, F 18s, Marvel heroes, and even Elvis by a mile.

Tons of bananas and evil deeds: the yellow dungaree-clad Minions are at it again and proved that the world is in desperate need of slapstick and a healthy dose of chaotic humor these days. These creatures are mean but hilariously funny anarchists, having served villains like Dracula and Napoleon (yes, he was one, too) and thereby determined world history.

Until they found their ultimate Master in the marmalade-making Gru and went on adventures with him, his lady Lucy and their adopted daughters Margi, Edith, and Agnes. In part 2 of the successful – now – franchise, which is actually a prequel to the original, we learn how Gru became, well, Gru, and what part his little yellow helpers played in his rise to questionable fame. As a teenager, he wanted to join a gang of troublemakers who did not take him seriously until he stole a valuable gem from them. Remember, after Gru decided to become a good guy in the first film, the studio was not quite sure what direction the new movie would take until they decided to roll back time on his character and the minions. And next to the well-known little guys Bob, Kevin and Stuart, we also get to know some new ones like Otto. In 88 minutes they wreak havoc and clearly had audiences laughing.

This means that after three weeks on top, Jurassic World: Ein Neues Zeitalter (Jurassic World: Dominion) slipped a notch t number two. Top Gun: Maverick is in the third spot. This means that Elvis just cannot seem to match his real-life counterpart: the Baz Luhrmann biopic starring Austin Butler in the title role, with Tom Hanks playing Colonel Tom Parker has little chance of ever making it to number one. Instead, it is caught in its own Jailhouse Rock, shaking its proverbial hips ever so slowly downward and landing in number four in its second week.

With Minions 2 debuting with such major success, all others slid down one spot, and The Black Phone, the horror thriller with Ethan Hawke as the serial killer was no exception. Still impressive for this not very expensive production

In sixth place is Die Geschichte der Menschheit – leicht gekürzt (The Story of Mankind – slightly shortened), followed by one of the other four animated films in the charts, Lightyear in seventh and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in eighth place

Mia and Me – Das Geheimnis von Centopia (Mia and Me – The Secret of Centopia), and Paw Patrol: Jet to the Rescue – Rettung im Anflug round out the top ten, effectively kicking Massive Talent (with Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, and Tiffany Haddish in the leads) as well as  Fantastische Tierwesen 3: Dumbledores Geheimnisse (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore) out of the charts.

In Austria, Elvis did not fare as badly and stayed at number three. But Minions 2 also took the country by storm, leaving room for Top Gun: Maverick in second place and giving some love to the homemade Geschichten vom Franz, now in its ninth week and never leaving the top ten, as well as Channing Tatum’s Dog. The rest of the charts pretty much resembles their German neighbor.