“Despicable Me” becomes biggest animated franchise ever

With a boost from its jabbering minions, Illumination's “Despicable Me 3” crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office this week as it took in $741.4 million internationally and $259.05 million in North America.

Collectively, the four movies in the “Despicable Me' franchise, which includes 2015's “Minions”, have grossed $3.67 billion, surpassing the $2.96 billion grossed by the four “Shrek” movies to become the highest-grossing animated film franchise of all time.

As for other stats, “Despicable Me 3” is the second Universal release to cross the $1 billion mark this year, following “The Fate of the Furious” ($1.2 billion). At the global box office, the movie is the biggest animated film of 2017, as well as the third-highest-grossing film of the year to date. Additionally, it is now the sixth-highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide, and the third-highest-grossing animated film of all time internationally, behind only Disney's “Frozen” and “Minions”. 

 “The enduring success of 'Despicable Me' and 'Minions' is a testament to the extraordinary talent of the team at Illumination and Illumination Mac Guff combined with the world's greatest studio, Universal,” Illumination founder and CEO Meledandri said of the movie's latest box office benchmark. 

Illumination's upcoming films include “Dr. Seuss' The Grinch”, coming in November 2018, “The Secret Life of Pets 2” in June 2019, “Minions 2” in July 2020, and “Sing 2” in December 2020.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter