With Thursday’s (September 7) grosses, Illumination’s Despicable Me 3 crossed $1bn at the worldwide box office, earning $741.4 million internationally and $259.1m in North America. Its results have propelled the Despicable Me franchise past the Shrek series to become the highest-grossing animated film franchise of all time globally.
Despicable Me 3’s results also move the Despicable Me franchise past the Ice Age series to become the highest-grossing animated franchise internationally. Despicable Me 3 joins The Fate Of The Furious ($1.238bn) as the second Universal film to cross $1bn this year.
In sum, Illumination’s eight releases, which include Despicable Me, Hop, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Despicable Me 2, Minions, The Secret Life Of Pets, Sing and Despicable Me 3 , have grossed more than $5.7bn worldwide. Despicable Me 3 is Illumination’s second film to gross more than $1bn billion, as well as the first time an animated franchise has had two movies both cross $1bn. Despicable Me 3 is also the company’s third title to gross more than $900m, making Illumination the only animation studio to do so.
Despicable Me 3 is now the sixth-highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide, and the third-highest-grossing animated film of all time internationally, behind Frozen and Minions. At the global box office, Despicable Me 3 has become the biggest animated film of 2017, as well as the third-highest-grossing film of any genre this year.
Despicable Me 3’s top performing market is China on $152.3 million, where it had the biggest opening day and weekend of all time for an animated film, followed by Japan on $60.8 million, the UK $60.2 million, Germany $41.6 million, and France $39.8 million.
Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri said: “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. Our passion for creating memorable experiences is on display in Despicable Me 3, and we thank fans for taking this chapter to a billion-dollar milestone.”
Duncan Clark, president of distribution at Universal Pictures International, commented: “What Chris and his team at Illumination have been able to do with this franchise has been nothing short of amazing. Despicable Me has permeated deep into all cultures internationally, and these movies have become a destination for family audiences of all ages everywhere. That is a remarkable achievement by any standard.”
Nick Carpou, president of domestic distribution at Universal Pictures, added: “This record-breaking franchise continues to appeal to a wide range of audiences with compelling stories and distinctive characters that are both sweet and subversive. When audiences see an Illumination title on the release schedule, they know they’re in for a good time.”
No comments yet