MUMBAI: Traditionally, Fourth of July is a slow movie going day since Americans will be outdoors enjoying what should be good weather nationally. The domestic box office numbers do not tell the full story until Friday at the earliest. But there‘s no question that the ‘A‘ cinema score for Illumination Entertainment‘s and Universal‘s Despicable Me 2 (3,957 theaters) will help it gross well over $120 million domestic for the five-day Fourth of July holiday.

On Wednesday the well-received and well-reviewed toon opened no 1 with $34.3 mn which is "an incredible start" according to a Universal executive. That‘s higher than Monsters University‘s Friday take of $30.5 mn last month. And it‘s setting records - the third highest opening day ever for an animated feature, the 8th highest Wednesday opening ever, and the biggest Wednesday opening of all-time for Universal. 

The sequel‘s big draws are those lovable Minions who in the original toon were given form and function by Coffin & Renaud to underscore the comedy surrounding Gru‘s madcap mayhem. Reportedly for the first pic, the pair looked at previous peons like Oompa Loompas from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and the Jawas from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.

This time around, the scribes just wrote as many Minions scenes as they could squeeze into the sequel. And in 2014 the little yellow guys even get their own stand alone Minion movie with Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm already attached. Meanwhile, the end credits feature the Minion wack-pack‘s 3D demo.