Having earned just under $300 million worldwide so far, Minions: The Rise of Gru has taken the total earnings for the Despicable Me franchise to over $4 billion worldwide. As the latest movie in the series, the second prequel to 2010’s original Despicable Me, continues to pull in large audiences, the franchise that has often failed to get consistently great critic reviews has proven that audiences still love the antics of Gru and his little yellow minions.
Despicable Me was a surprise hit over a decade ago, raking in $544 million at the box office in 2010. A sequel followed three years later and almost doubled that amount, ending its run on $975 million. In 2015, the franchise broke away from sequels and instead moved the focus to the Minions in a prequel movie discovering where the accident-prone creatures came from and how they ended up meeting Gru as a young child. That film became the first in the franchise to break new ground with a worldwide box office of $1.17 billion. Two years later, Despicable Me 3 arrived and once again saw the series push just beyond the $1 billion mark.
In relation to other similar franchises, the five Despicable Me movies’ combined budget of $374 million means the Illumination series is the most profitable animated franchise in history. This puts it ahead of the Shrek/Puss In Boots five-film collective, the Ice Age series, the Madagascar movies, and even the Toy Story franchise.
Minions: The Rise Of Gru Will Be The Biggest Animated Movie of the Covid Era
With many other animated movies such as Disney’s Encanto struggling to bring in huge box office numbers during the post-Covid era, and recent releases like Lightyear also struggling to make much of an impact, Minions: The Rise of Gru has already passed its main competition as the top animated movie of the last two years. Only Sing 2 has taken more, but with the newest addition to the Despicable Me franchise almost certain to pass $410 million in the coming weeks, that movie will also bow down before Gru and his cohorts before its theatrical run is at an end.
While Disney has always been the most dependable studio for animated movies, their recent output has failed to capture cinema audiences, with many waiting for the films to arrive soon afterwards on Disney+. Although the likes of Encanto have found massive success on the Disney streaming platform, the House of Mouse will be hoping to make its mark on the box office again soon.
However, with Minions: The Rise of Gru having only been in cinemas a week, the film has quite a way to go and could end up make upwards of $800 million when all is said and done. With Despicable Me 4 already slated for release in 2024, it is going to take a lot to knock the franchise off its place at the top of the animated league table any time soon.