‘Despicable Me 4’ Global Box Office Darts Past Major Milestone in Blockbuster Debut

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The Big Picture

Despicable Me 4
debuts with a massive global opening, grossing just under $230 million.
The film’s success follows the momentum of
Inside Out 2
and
A Quiet Place: Day One
.
The
Despicable Me
franchise has generated over $4.8 billion in global box office revenue.

Family audiences are coming to the rescue at the summer box office, after a worrisome start a few weeks ago. While films like Bad Boys: Ride or Die and A Quiet Place: Day One have pulled adult crowds to theaters with great success, it was Inside Out 2 that ignited the box office three weeks ago. And now, another animated sequel — Despicable Me 4 — is building on the momentum. The latest installment in the blockbuster franchise delivered a massive global debut, after being launched this weekend in over 50 new territories following a limited international roll-out a couple of weeks ago.

Despicable Me 4 debuted midweek in North America, where it exceeded expectations with a $122 million extended five-day debut. The movie made $73 million from overseas markets this weekend, with the bulk of the revenue coming from Mexico ($12 million) and Brazil ($6 million). Despicable Me 4 has grossed $107 million from overseas territories so far, for a cumulative global haul of just under $230 million. By comparison, Inside Out 2 grossed just under $300 million worldwide in its first weekend, and has since generated over $1.2 billion worldwide. Geared at a much younger audience, the Despicable Me franchise is no slouch itself. Having debuted in 2010, the four main movies and two spin-offs have generated over $4.8 billion in global box office revenue.

The ‘Despicable Me’ Franchise Has Branched Off Into Several Mediums

Despicable Me Movies	Global Box Office
Despicable Me	$544 million
Despicable Me 2	$975 million
Minions	$1.1 billion
Despicable Me 3	$1 billion
Minions: The Rise of Gru	$939 million
Despicable Me 4	$230 million (and counting)

And unlike Inside Out 2, which reportedly cost $200 million to produce, Despicable Me 4’s reported budget is in line with Illumination standards. Like last year’s mammoth hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed $1.3 billion worldwide, Despicable Me 4 also reportedly cost around $100 million to produce. This appears to be the upper limit for the franchise; the first film cost less than $70 million and grossed nearly $550 million worldwide, while the spin-off film Minions cost a little over $70 million but ended up grossing over $1.1 billion worldwide in 2015.

The series follows the misadventures of the lapsed super-villain Gru, who is aided in his ridiculous escapades by the fan-favorite little yellow creatures known as the “minions.” While the Despicable Me franchise has never really been a critical darling, the new movie happens to be the lowest-rated of the lot on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds a 54% score. But it’s the audience response that really counts, and in that department, the movie is doing exceptionally well. It has a 90% audience score, in addition to an A CinemaScore that it earned from opening day crowds.

Despicable Me 4 features the returning Steve Carell as the voice of Gru, alongside Kristen Wiig, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Sofia Vergara, and Will Ferrell as the villain. Directed by franchise mainstay Chris Renaud, Despicable Me 4 is playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.