Minions | 7.10.2015 | Crosses 1 BILLION Worldwide. Beats Toy Story 3 on the all-time chart.

[MinaTakla]

Grace Randolph on why Disney needs to watch out for Illumination after Minions

 

Edited September 2, 2015 by MinaTakla

[John Marston]

Did anyone think otherwise?

Yes. Many people said the lack of Gri and the girls would hurt it

[MinaTakla]

Yahoo just published this article on Why Minions are So Popular - has exactly what i've been saying about people here on the forum and otherwise under-estimating this franchise every.single.time

 

Minions Makes A Billion, But What’s Their Appeal?

 

It was only a matter of time, wasn’t it, but ‘Minions’ has made a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.

But what’s their appeal?

Officially, the ‘Despicable Me’ spin-off has taken $1,018,901,000 over the summer since its early July release and is the most successful in the franchise.

Success Story

 The first ‘Despicable Me’ hit cinemas in 2010 and amassed a respectable $543 million, which was pretty good going considering it was a brand new, unheard of franchise hitting the animation scene.  2013 saw the release of ‘Despicable Me 2′. It quickly surpassed the original and took just under a billion dollars, with a total of $971 million, affirming it as one of the year’s biggest grossers.

Animation Wars

Like Pixar films, this franchise manages to appeal to a wide audience, but not quite in the same way. The likes of ‘Toy Story 3′ and ‘Up’ connected on a basic, visual gag level to small kids (bar that Married Life montage in the latter). ‘Despicable Me’ and its sequel appealed largely to the kiddies but provided enough jokes and silliness to appease many adults. 

‘Minions’ hones in on the mega success of the first two and goes all-out to get children into cinemas, while retaining a fundamental cuteness that can not only entice adults, but encapsulate impressionable, developing children to engage with the on-screen action.

The fact that its stars - Stuart, Kevin, and Bob - can barely utter a coherent word between them seems to have worked in the film’s favour. Not only do their funny sounding utterances make audiences of all ages laugh, it seems to resonate strongly with little kids, serving as a viable form of entertainment where developing minds can follow a simple, easy to understand narrative.

Summer holidays have always proven a good time to release movies aimed at bored kids who have driven parents up the wall for weeks on end, so is likely one reason for its July and August surge. And for adults who, admittedly, have no idea what they’re saying, the three dungaree-wearing misfits are amusing and visually adorable enough to capture their imaginations, too.

Plenty of Appeal

No doubt as the franchise has grown - and its creators have realised how the yellow odd bods can pull in the adults - the wit and visual comedy has been a big thing grown-ups can latch on to. Sure, on the surface they’re inarticulate blobby ‘things’ to keep kids entertained, but each with their own personalities and some genuinely amusing moments even without the ability to tell verbal jokes, it’s this blend that has proven a winning formula, and something different to Disney’s, Pixar’s, and even DreamWorks’ output.

In truth, people sometimes underestimate the influence and huge audience share that are children. Disney’s ‘Frozen’ targeted youngster but also managed to grab the attention of adults too. Aiming a film primarily at younger viewers while giving a bit of appeal to older ones doesn’t even feel like a key issue here, mainly because parents will have to take their children to see it anyway, which accounts, in part, to its strong box office performance.

Quite why minions are so popular across the board is, as with most crazes, largely inexplicable, but well targeted to an audience: in this case kids. But subjective appeal, especially in the film world, needs no explanation. All we can do is choose whether to ignore or embrace ‘minion fever’ because, let’s face it, they’re here to stay.

‘Despicable Me 3′ is in cinemas in summer 2017, with ‘Minions 2′ practically guaranteed to be with us in the coming years.

 

Edited September 2, 2015 by MinaTakla

[Irma]

Yes, actually - many people here - to my absolute amazement.

 

We do not care about Gru and the "girls" - so screw DM2 and give as MINIONS 2 !!!

The Minions movie level raised like a 1000 times when Gru appeared to steal the crown.

He rocks

And dr Nefario of course

[MrFanaticGuy34]

Yes. Many people said the lack of Gri and the girls would hurt it

Well...it did a bit, reception-wise. But box-office wise....OS audience helped it get to $1B WW, and that's without China so far.

I think the good reception will come back in DM3.

[phantom]

 

Plenty of Appeal

No doubt as the franchise has grown - and its creators have realised how the yellow odd bods can pull in the adults - the wit and visual comedy has been a big thing grown-ups can latch on to. Sure, on the surface they’re inarticulate blobby ‘things’ to keep kids entertained, but each with their own personalities and some genuinely amusing moments even without the ability to tell verbal jokes, it’s this blend that has proven a winning formula, and something different to Disney’s, Pixar’s, and even DreamWorks’ output.

In truth, people sometimes underestimate the influence and huge audience share that are children. Disney’s ‘Frozen’ targeted youngster but also managed to grab the attention of adults too. Aiming a film primarily at younger viewers while giving a bit of appeal to older ones doesn’t even feel like a key issue here, mainly because parents will have to take their children to see it anyway, which accounts, in part, to its strong box office performance.

Quite why minions are so popular across the board is, as with most crazes, largely inexplicable, but well targeted to an audience: in this case kids. But subjective appeal, especially in the film world, needs no explanation. All we can do is choose whether to ignore or embrace ‘minion fever’ because, let’s face it, they’re here to stay.

‘Despicable Me 3′ is in cinemas in summer 2017, with ‘Minions 2′ practically guaranteed to be with us in the coming years.

 

Honestly, Illumination is still a small studio in comparison with big studios like Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks, despite having the successful Despicable Me franchise. Illumination shouldn't rest on their laurels with just one franchise because fads come and go (*ahem* Shrek and Ice age). And their fans will eventually grow up. They should be riskier and more competitive, now that they have money for it. Though, I doubt their studio name is now a household name. I wonder if the kids even know who made the Minions, they might even answer that it's from Disney. 

[SchumacherFTW]

Could they actually get Russell Brand back now?

[PDC1987]

Honestly, Illumination is still a small studio in comparison with big studios like Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks, despite having the successful Despicable Me franchise. Illumination shouldn't rest on their laurels with just one franchise because fads come and go (*ahem* Shrek and Ice age). And their fans will eventually grow up. They should be riskier and more competitive, now that they have money for it. Though, I doubt their studio name is now a household name. I wonder if the kids even know who made the Minions, they might even answer that it's from Disney. 

The Secret Life of Pets.

[Jack Nevada]

"IT PRINTS MONEY"

[Jonwo]

The Secret Life of Pets.

 

I'm not sure on Pets because it's scheduled against Star Trek 3 and is released in a pretty heavy July in terms of competition and 2016 has many animated talking animal movies either fully or hybrids so by the time this comes out, it may be that audiences will be tired of them and also its overseas competition is Dory and Ice Age, both which will be very successful. 

[Ezen Baklattan]

Grace Randolph on why Disney needs to watch out for Illumination after Minions

 

Their only other film made less than $400m Worldwide. So far Minions and the DM world is the only thing this studio has going for it at the moment. Let's see how TSLOP does next summer. but I have faith in that film.

[Jonwo]

Their only other film made less than $400m Worldwide. So far Minions and the DM world is the only thing this studio has going for it at the moment. Let's see how TSLOP does next summer. but I have faith in that film.

Dr Seuss doesn't really do that well overseas and it didn't help that Universal held back The Lorax in a lot of places until summer, in the UK it was released on the day of the Olympics Opening Ceremony which says it all. Hop didnt do that well either but it faced Rio overseas and it was a pretty crap film to begin with.

To say Disney should look out for Illumination is laughable, they have two very strong studios in WDAS and Pixar who consistently produce good to great films.

[MinaTakla]

Dr Seuss doesn't really do that well overseas and it didn't help that Universal held back The Lorax in a lot of places until summer, in the UK it was released on the day of the Olympics Opening Ceremony which says it all. Hop didnt do that well either but it faced Rio overseas and it was a pretty crap film to begin with.

To say Disney should look out for Illumination is laughable, they have two very strong studios in WDAS and Pixar who consistently produce good to great films.

I don't think it's laughable to think that, because Illumination is able to capture a unique comedy style in their films and Pets might continue that trend.

What Grace was trying to say is that Disney is no longer the sole box office crown holder and that Illumination as an emerging studio is changing the game.

[MinaTakla]

Wohoo!!

 

'Minions' reaches $700m at international box office

Universal Pictures International’s (UPI)Minions from Universal/Illumination has grossed $700m and heads to Turkey.

http://www.screendaily.com/box-office/minions-reaches-700m-intl/5092490.article?blocktitle=INTERNATIONAL-BOX-OFFICE-NEWS&contentID=40079

 

Edited September 4, 2015 by MinaTakla

[Jonwo]

The comedy in Illumination's films isn't unique at all unless you consider slapstick unique, it's been done many times before by Blue Sky, DWA etc and better as well. they just captured lightning in a bottle with Minions and DM and that's not easy to do more than once. The only thing that's different is that they have smaller budgets.

[shayhiri]

It IS perfectly unique - and easily recognizable (in the DM franchise). We'll see how it goes from here.

[PDC1987]

I'm not sure on Pets because it's scheduled against Star Trek 3 and is released in a pretty heavy July in terms of competition and 2016 has many animated talking animal movies either fully or hybrids so by the time this comes out, it may be that audiences will be tired of them and also its overseas competition is Dory and Ice Age, both which will be very successful. 

The notion that ST3 is competition for anything, let alone a billion dollar family franchise, is laughable.

[Lordmandeep]

Minions are super popular especially with females.

 

You be shocked how many girls in 20s act like kids when they see Minions.

[Bishop54]

Minions didn't deserve to make $1B, what a messy unfunny film.

[Jonwo]

The notion that ST3 is competition for anything, let alone a billion dollar family franchise, is laughable.

Pets is unproven and whereas Star Trek has done $200m+ domestically for the last two films and is being released on its 50th anniversary so they'll be plenty of coverage.