Despicable Me Just Made Billion-Dollar Box Office History
When guessing what animated movie franchise has been the most financially successful, you would probably guess something along the lines of Frozen for how incredibly popular it was with just two movies. Or maybe you would guess Toy Story because of the four movies that have all done very well at the box office. But as it turns out, the Despicable Me franchise has just claimed the crown for the largest revenue brought in, recently crossing $5 billion thanks to Despicable Me 4.
The Most Successful Animated Franchise In History
Currently, Despicable Me 4 has brought in over $430 million at the box office, which is quite impressive considering it was only released in America near the start of July. People online might gripe about finding memes of the minions oversaturating social media sites, but children are the primary audience for the franchise, and they clearly still love it.
Animation Domination
Despicable Me 3 was released in 2017 and made just over a billion dollars by the time it finished at the box office. So, if that is any indication, Despicable Me 4 could more than cement its record by still seeing many more ticket sales before it wraps up its time on the big screen.
However, it is not just Despicable Me that is doing well theatrically. Animated films in general seem to be the big winners this summer, with Inside Out 2 doing similarly extraordinary. So far, Inside Out 2 has earned $1.36 billion, making it the only movie so far this year to earn over a billion.
Superheroes Stumble, Supervillains Rule
Other previously reliable genres, like superhero films, have been struggling more at the box office lately, leading many to postulate that cinemas will not be able to bounce back to their same state even post-Covid. However, maybe it is not cinemas as a whole but merely the genres that are changing in popularity. Despicable Me and other animated films seem to be as strong as ever.
Expect More Sequels
It is not even just animated films this year that have been strong, either. Last year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie was one of 2023’s big hits, also earning over a billion dollars, and plans are already underway to release a sequel. If Despicable Me 4’s numbers continue to hold strong for the remainder of its theatrical run, it is hard to imagine we would go another seven years between the next sequel.
Taking The Fight To Disney
Disney had a dominant run in the ‘90s thanks to their animation renaissance period that produced many classics. Perhaps it has been long enough that animated films are now back in demand as the most anticipated movies in theaters again. If the trends from Despicable Me are anything to go by, that certainly seems to be the case.
