The Despicable Me Franchise Just Made Box Office History

People just love the Minions. With "Despicable Me 4" continuing to tear it up at the global box office, the franchise has crossed a major milestone, making a bit of history in the process. Illumination's signature series of films has now collectively crossed the $5 billion mark worldwide, making it the first animated franchise in history to do so. What's more, if things continue to go the way they're going, that number will be $6 billion and counting in just a few years.

"Despicable Me 4" once again topped the charts over the weekend, pulling in $44.6 million domestically in its second weekend. That represents just a 40% drop week-to-week following the sequel's record-setting opening weekend. Internationally, Gru and the Minions held strong as well, pulling in another $87.9 million from overseas markets. That puts the movie's running total at $437.8 million worldwide, with a lot of gas left in the tank. More importantly, it was enough to get the franchise over the $5 billion hump.

To date, the "Despicable Me" and "Minions" movies have pulled in $5.08 billion worldwide. This dates back to 2010 when the first "Despicable Me" movie hit theaters, pulling in $544.7 million globally. The biggest hit in the franchise remains 2015's "Minions," which pulled in a monster $1.15 billion worldwide in its day. 2022's "Minions: The Rise of Gru" pushed the series past $4 billion, narrowly missing out on the $1 billion milestone itself, taking in $939.4 million. Beyond launching the biggest animated franchise in cinema history, these movies helped establish Illumination as a powerhouse in Hollywood. Some of the studio's other hits include "The Secret Life of Pets" and "Sing."

As far as the competition goes, "Kung Fu Panda 4" helped push that franchise past the $2 billion mark to become one of the top ten biggest animated franchises ever. That list also includes "Shrek" ($4 billion), "Toy Story" ($3.27 billion), "Ice Age" ($3.2 billion), "Frozen" ($2.7 billion), "Madagascar" ($2.25 billion), "Finding Nemo" ($1.9 billion), "The Incredibles" ($1.8 billion), and "How to Train Your Dragon" ($1.6 billion). Those numbers will change in the coming years as "Shrek 5" was recently announced by DreamWorks for a 2026 release. We've also got "Toy Story 5" and "Frozen 3" on the way from Disney. But with "Minions 3" on the way, this franchise has a commanding lead that Illumination clearly intends to hold onto.

One of the most remarkable things about this franchise, in hindsight, is its sheer consistency. "Despicable Me 2" became a gigantic breakout sequel, pulling in $975.2 million globally, which was close to double what the original did. Perhaps most importantly, Illumination and Universal have worked incredibly hard to make sure that one of these movies is in theaters every two to three years. To that end, "Minions 3" is dated for summer 2027.

On the flip side, it seems to be taking longer and longer for other franchises to get sequels in theaters. "The Batman" was one of the biggest hits of 2022, yet "The Batman: Part II" was recently delayed to 2026. Similarly, Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" was a big hit in 2021, a sequel entered development, and we've heard next to nothing about it since. Those breaks can be a killer. Yet, "Despicable Me" runs like a finely tuned engine, and that has worked to benefit Universal, Illumination, and theaters a great deal. It's undeniably impressive.

"Despicable Me 4" is in theaters now.