Want to save movie theaters? Despicable Me 4 and Inside Out 2 prove the secret is family films

If I recall correctly, May 24, 2024, was the day that movie theaters died. Or at least, that was the word from box office pundits as Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga posted one of the lowest openings ever for a movie opening over Memorial Day weekend. Adding insult to injury, The Garfield Movie, which was expected to tank, was neck and neck with Furiosa all weekend long.

Cut to less than a month and a half later, and movies are back, baby! Inside Out 2 is the fastest animated movie ever to cross the $1 billion mark and is currently sitting pretty as the sixth highest-grossing animated movie of all time. Despicable Me 4 had a huge opening weekend too, with $75 million from Friday through Sunday; or $122.6 million if you do the five-day weekend/July 4th thing. Any way you cut it, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of cinema’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

While those numbers are huge, it’s important to note that adult fare has bounced back as well, as Bad Boys: Ride or Die, A Quiet Place: Day One and MaXXXine all posted solid box office numbers as well. Nothing on the level of either Riley’s brain-friends, or Gru and the Minions. But the gloom and doom of Memorial Day seems to be a distant memory.

The reason, I’d venture – or at least part of the reason – is that Hollywood forgot that families like going to the movie theater, particularly in the middle of the hot, hot summer. I’ve been making a very funny joke mostly for myself over the past few months as I’ve posted “what to watch this weekend” stories, as Kung Fu Panda 4 was the only real family movie in theaters from March 8, until Inside Out 2 hit. I know I’m skipping by a few (including the aforementioned Garfield), but I do think this points to the fact that families, even with the plethora of streaming options available, do want to take kids to the movies.

Is it expensive? Heck yes. Are the theaters often dirty and crowds annoying? Yep, that too. But it’s still a few hours in AC with snacks. It’s an outing that’s not a museum or swimming pool, where the family can bond, in the quiet, in the dark. I believe Nicole Kidman had something to say once about the magic of movie theaters, and she was right. Even with everything working against the experience, there’s still something special about taking the whole family to the local AMC for a few hours.

And the box office is bearing that out. Mind you, these are sequels to known properties, from studios – Pixar for Inside Out 2, and Illumination for Despicable Me 4 – that provide reliable products. But that’s kind of what we want, right? I know that as a parent if there’s something I’m iffy about, I either go see it myself to vet it before taking the kids, or just wait until streaming. But I know what I’m getting into with the aforementioned movies, and for better or worse that’s what families want at the movie theater. That’s why Kung Fu Panda 4 played for months, despite also being available to stream almost immediately.

And on the adult movies, a rising tide raises all ships, right? Adults do want to see movies too, and kids aren’t little kids forever. Having big, blockbuster family movies in theaters means that one parent can go see Bad Boys while everyone else sees Inside Out 2 for the third time. Or your teen can skip Despicable Me 4, for A Quiet Place: Day One. Not MaXXXine though, they'd never sneak into an R-rated movie.

I know the conventional wisdom since the start of COVID was that it's cheaper and easier to watch movies at home. Spoilers: it is. But families want to go see movies in theaters, too. Which is why it’s wild that the rest of the summer is nothing but rereleases (Coraline, The Lion King) and Harold and the Purple Crayon which turns the title character into an adult played by Zachary Levi. In fact, there are no pure kids movies until school is back in session in September – Transformers One opens on September 20, followed by The Wild Robot on September 27.

Here’s hoping movie studios see how the success of family movies has regenerated the interest in going to movie theaters, and pivot accordingly. Because as much as my kids beg me, I’m not taking them to see R-Rated fare like Deadpool & Wolverine. Families want to see movies, but movie studios need to put movies in theaters that families want to see.