A $5.6 Billion Non-Disney Animated Movie Franchise Returns This Week

When it comes to animated movie franchises, Disney is often the first studio that comes to mind. Whether through the stories told by Walt Disney Animation Studios or Pixar, the company responsible for icons like Mickey Mouse and Elsa and Anna from Frozen has made billions of dollars off animated movies. And when they get big hits, sequels come frequently.

That's given Disney claim to half of the highest-grossing animated franchises of all-time. Toy Story, The Lion King, Zootopia, Frozen, Inside Out, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and Moana all hold spots in the top 20, with Ice Age also now belonging to the treasure trove after 2019's 20th Century Studios acquisition.

But Disney doesn't rule the animated movie space alone. Shrek, Super Mario, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, and Spider-Verse are other massively popular franchises in this realm. In most cases, their respective Hollywood studios are hard at work getting new installments ready for audience consumption.

While Disney is riding high on Toy Story 5's success, a major competitor is now arriving. Illumination and Universal are bringing back their $5.6 billion franchise this week with the release of Minions & Monsters in theaters on Wednesday, July 1.

Minions & Monsters Is The Latest Installment In Illumination's Despicable Me Franchise

16 years after it started, Illumination is still finding new ways to expand its Despicable Me movie franchise with Minions & Monsters. The movie is the seventh entry in the animated universe that, while largely featuring the supervillain-turned-superdad known as Gru, is synonymous with the yellow, pill-shaped, hilarious, and daring sidekicks.

Minions & Monsters marks the third entry in the spinoff series for the Minions themselves. These movies are prequels to the Despicable Me series. The latest entry is directed by Pierre Coffin, who helmed the first three Despicable Me movies and the original Minions and also voices every single Minion.

In a franchise change, Minions & Monsters follows a different set of Minions than those who went on to follow Gru. Bob, Kevin, and Stuart are gone, with James, Henry, and Ed the new main trio. Set in the 1920s, this Minion group attempts to find a monster for their movie pitch.

The cast of Minions & Monsters is headlined by franchise vet Trey Parker, who previously voiced Balthazar Bratt in Despicable Me 3. Franchise newcomers include Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeff Bridges, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, and Phil LaMarr. Minions & Monsters even has a George Lucas cameo as himself.

Minions & Monsters Is The Big Fourth Of July Holiday Weekend Movie This Year

When Minions & Monsters hits theaters on Wednesday, it enters the summer season in prime position for success. Illumination's animated movie immediately becomes the biggest new movie for families and children to see on the big screen. There's no other major new release competing with it, with Toy Story 5 set to be in its third weekend.

Viewers will have their pick of premium formats, too, with IMAX, 4DX, ScreenX, and 3D among the available options. It's up to each person to choose how they want to watch Minions & Monsters in theaters, but whether they are going to at all likely will not be much of a decision.

As evident by the collective $5.6 billion box office haul (the biggest ever for an animated movie franchise), these movies are wildly popular. After the first entry, no release in the Despicable Me series has made less than $940 million worldwide; two have made over $1 billion alone. Minions & Monsters hopes to become the third.

The new entry is expected to make over $100 million during its 5-day Fourth of July holiday weekend, putting it well on its way to being the franchise's latest hit. Whether Minions & Monsters crosses the $1 billion threshold or not, with it sporting a franchise-low $85 million budget (via Puck), the movie is guaranteed to be a huge financial winner for Illumination and Universal.