Universal Pictures is having a very impressive 2015. Earlier this month, it was announced that the studio had already set the all-time box office record with four months still to go. Now, it has been revealed that the Minions box office has surpassed $1 billion worldwide! The Universal and Illumination Entertainment release has grossed an estimated $682 million internationally and $321.9 million in North America. Minions is now the third-highest grossing animated film of all time (behind Frozen and Toy Story 3).
The Minions box office also marks the first time any studio has had three films cross $1 billion at the worldwide box office in a single year. Furious 7 grossed $1.512 billion and Jurassic World has grossed $1.628 billion and counting. Currently the 23rd highest-grossing film of all time, Minions opened number one in North American and in 56 international territories so far. The film still has three markets to open in addition to Italy, where it opens today. Turkey will release the film September 4 with China following on September 13 and the film finally coming to Greece on September 24.
So far, Illumination has released five features (the list also includes, in chronological order, Despicable Me, Hop, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax and Despicable Me 2) that have cumulatively grossed more than $3 billion worldwide.
Illumination’s global approach, led by Founder and CEO Chris Meledandri, includes a creative team that comes from 29 nationalities, resembling the breadth of the worldwide audience that they aim to reach with each of their films.
Other records set by Universal this year include a record $2.113 billion at the North American box office and $3.73 billion at the international box office.
Currently number one at the domestic box office for its third week is Universal’s Straight Outta Compton. Coming up in 2015, Universal will release M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit, Baltasar Kormákur’s Everest, Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs, Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak, Angelina Jolie’s By The Sea, Michael Dougherty’s Krampus and Jason Moore’s Sisters, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
