Minions: The Rise of Gru Crosses $500 Million at International Box Office

Minions: The Rise of Gru was released last month and had a very successful opening. The animated film managed to earn record-breaking box office numbers for July 4th weekend, beating Transformers: The Last Knight's takeaway from 2011. The movie received decent reviews from critics, and currently has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A big boost in ticket sales could be attributed to the "GentleMinions" TikTok trend, which seems to have faded a bit. However, nearly two months after the movie hit theatres, it has officially managed to earn $500 million at the international box office, bringing its total to $868.8 million worldwide.

According to a report from Variety, Universal has said that both 2015's Minions and 2017's Despicable Me 3 had reached about the same number at the same point in their releases. Both films managed to earn $1 billion worldwide, but it's unclear if the latest installment will live up to its predecessors. 

While Minions: The Rise of Gru still has a ways to go to top Minions (2015) at the box office, the new installment has significantly better scores. The last movie earned a 55% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes while Despicable Me 3 earned 59%. It lags behind the first two installments of the franchise, however, which earned 81% and 75%, respectively. 

In Minions: The Rise of Gru, long before he becomes the master of evil, Gru (Carell) is just a 12-year-old boy in 1970s suburbia, plotting to take over the world from his basement. It's not going particularly well. When Gru crosses paths with the Minions, including Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto — a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please — this unexpected family joins forces. Together, they build their first lair, design their first weapons, and strive to execute their first missions.

The film features the voice talent of Steve Carell as Gru, Taraji P. Henson as cool and confident leader Belle Bottom, whose chain belt doubles as a lethal disco-ball mace; Jean-Claude Van Damme as the nihilistic Jean Clawed, who's armed (literally) with a giant robotic claw; Lucy Lawless as Nunchuck, whose traditional nun's habit hides her deadly nun-chucks; Dolph Lundgren as Swedish roller-skate champion Svengeance, who dispenses his enemies with spin kicks from his spiked skates; and Danny Trejo as Stronghold, whose giant iron hands are both a menace to others and a burden to him. 

Minions: The Rise of Gru is still playing in theatres.