©Universal/Courtesy of Everett Coll
After “despicable me “4” debuted at number one at the worldwide box office on the Fourth of July holiday with $230 million, Universal and Illumination announced.Minions “Star Wars Episode 3” has been released as the next chapter in the hit animated series.
The mischievous yellow posse will return to theaters on June 30, 2027 in a film written by Brian Lynch (Minions, The Secret Life of Pets) and directed by Oscar-nominated Pierre Coffin (director of the first three Despicable Me films and the original Minions film). Coffin has also voiced the Minions since his film debut in 2010’s Despicable Me.
The film will be produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and Bill Ryan (Super Mario Bros. The Movie).
Since their release in 2010, the Despicable Me and Minions films have collectively grossed nearly $5 billion, making them the biggest global animated franchises of all time. 2022’s Minions: Gru Strikes Back topped the global box office during its opening weekend, breaking the record for the Fourth of July holiday. Domestic revenue: $125 million“Despicable Me” fell just short of that figure but is expected to top the charts again this year after an impressive domestic debut of $122.6 million. Week 2 After its release, it grossed over $30 million.
In an article analyzing summer box office revenues and the state of animation, variety Head of Film Critics Peter Debruge “What was once Will Smith weekend and last year’s return of an aging Indiana Jones has long since become the domain of the Despicable Me franchise,” they wrote.
He said that for seven of the past 14 years, Illumination Entertainment has released one of its animated flagship films (its $10 billion-grossing slate also includes another hit franchise, “The Secret Life of Pets”) on or shortly after Independence Day weekend, a strategic move that seems to have paid off (“Despicable Me” and “Despicable Me 3” each grossed more than $1 billion worldwide).
“Less than a year after the writers’ and actors’ strike shut down Hollywood, children’s animation is providing a major boost to theatrical box office receipts,” he concluded, pointing to Inside Out 2, which grossed $1 billion, as evidence of animation’s dominance at multiplexes.
