Despicable Me and Minions Franchise Passes Huge Box Office Milestone

Despicable Me 4 hit theaters last week, and not only did it have a strong start at the box office in its first week, but it made $120 million by the time the holiday weekend was over. The animated film is now in its second weekend in theaters, and it’s still going strong. In fact, it looks like it will probably beat the horror film Longlegs to land in first place at the box office yet again. The movie’s success at the box office has allowed the Despicable Me and Minions franchise to reach a huge milestone. The movies have surpassed a total of $5 billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing animated franchise in history. 

Despicable Me 4 is expected to close out the weekend strong, bringing its global total to $441 million. According to Box Office Mojo, the first Despicable Me earned $543,239,815 worldwide, Despicable Me 2 earned $970,766,005 worldwide, and Despicable Me 3 earned $1,034,799,409. As for the Minion films, Minions made $1,159,398,397 worldwide and Minions: The Rise of Gru made $940,203,765 worldwide. Domestically, the Despicable Me and Minions movies are the 10th highest-grossing franchise of all time. 

What Is Despicable Me 4 About? 

You can read Illumination’s description of Despicable Me 4 here: “Following the 2022 summer blockbuster phenomenon of Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru, which earned almost $1 billion worldwide, the biggest global animated franchise in history now begins a new chapter as Gru (Oscar® nominee Steve Carrell) and Lucy (Oscar® nominee Kristen Wiig) and their girls -Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Madison Polan)-welcome a new member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad.

Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal (Emmy winner Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run.

The film features fresh new characters voiced by Joey King (Bullet Train), Emmy winner Stephen Colbert (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), and Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live). Pierre Coffin returns as the iconic voice of the Minions and Oscar® nominee Steve Coogan returns as Silas Ramsbottom.

Packed with non-stop action and filled with Illumination’s signature subversive humor, Despicable Me 4 is directed by a co-creator of the Minions, Oscar® nominee Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets), and is produced by Illumination’s visionary founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Brett Hoffman (executive producer, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Minions: The Rise of Gru). The film is co-directed by Patrick Delage (animation director Sing 2 and The Secret Life of Pets 2), and the screenplay is by the Emmy-winning creator of White Lotus, Mike White, and the veteran writer of every Despicable Me film, Ken Daurio.”

Despicable Me 4 is now playing in theaters.