Universal’s Latest ‘Minions’ Delivers $64 Million in Film Debut

Article content

(Bloomberg) — Minions & Monsters, the seventh film in the animated franchise depicting the yellow, mischievous creatures who speak in expressive gibberish, was the highest-grossing movie over the July 4 holiday weekend, with $61.4 million in US and Canadian box office sales. 

Article content

Produced by Chris Meledandri’s Illumination animation studio and released by Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, Minions & Monsters follows the tribe as it conquers Hollywood in the 1920s. Two new characters break away to make a monster movie that goes awry. It’s a fitting premise for a franchise that’s garnered legions of fans globally and grossed more than $5.6 billion in movie ticket sales since the first Despicable Me was released in 2010. 

Article content

Article content

Article content

The 2015 film Minions holds the record for the strongest debut in the franchise with $115.7 million in opening weekend sales. The latest entry, while falling below that level of sales, still reinforces Illumination’s standing as one of the most dependable forces in animated filmmaking. 

Article content

Article content

Meledandri founded Illumination in 2007 after a successful career at 20th Century Fox’s animation unit, where he produced the Ice Age franchise. Over the past two decades, the Santa Monica, California-based studio has seen major success with Minions, The Secret Life of Pets and adaptations of Dr Seuss’s The Lorax and The Grinch. 

Article content

In 2018, Illumination struck a partnership with Nintendo Co. to bring the Japanese video game publisher’s intellectual property to the big screen. In recent years, Illumination has released two billion-dollar films based on the popular Super Mario games. Meledandri joined the Nintendo board in 2021. 

Article content

Illumination’s run of hits recalls the success of Walt Disney Co.’s Pixar Animation Studios in the 2000s when it was considered the pinnacle of computer animation storytelling. After suffering a series of unprofitable misses in recent years, including Lightyear and Elio, Pixar has scored a comeback with Inside Out 2, Hoppers and Toy Story 5. 

Article content

Article content

Minions & Monsters, which was directed by the franchise’s creator, Pierre Coffin, forms part of a strong release calendar for Universal this summer. That slate includes the international rights to distribute Lionsgate Studios Corp.’s Michael biopic, about the early career of Michael Jackson, which has grossed $607.3 million outside the US and Canada; YouTube star Curry Barker’s Obsession, from Universal’s Focus Features specialty arm, which as grossed $373 million on a budget of less than $1 million; and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which is set to be released on July 17.

Article content

Comcast this week announced plans to separate its NBCUniversal media and entertainment arm from its broadband business and form two publicly traded companies. 

Article content