BEST-IN-CLASS PARTNERS SPREAD JOY AT RETAIL
DESPICABLE ME 4 PROPELS THE FRANCHISE PAST $5 BILLION AND ILLUMINATION CONFIRM MINIONS 3 FOR 2027
London, United Kingdom - Illumination’s Minions are bringing joy to retailers as Universal Products & Experiences (UP&E) celebrates Despicable Me 4’s continued success. The franchise is delivering on all counts, surpassing a record-breaking 5B worldwide box-office, securing full retail coverage for consumer products and the next movie, Illumination’s Minions 3, is already confirmed!
Universal Pictures and Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 opened at cinemas across the globe in July going straight to No. 1 at the box office grossing $230 million in its opening weekend in the US alone. Having climbed to a massive $260 million in EMEA (almost $1B worldwide), the beloved Minions show no signs of slowing down.
In Illumination’s first Despicable Me movie in seven years, Gru, the world’s favourite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain League-agent, and his family welcome a new member, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad. As Gru faces a new nemesis, Maxime Le Mal and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina, Gru and the family are forced to go on the run, in the exciting new chapter of Minions mayhem from the biggest global animated franchise in history.
The big screen success is impacting retail across EMEA as fans embrace the official consumer products. Product innovation is at the heart of every category with an iconic Fart Blaster, complete with floating, scented fart rings from master toy partner Moose Toys and the hero Brick-Built Gru and Minions set from LEGO being just two highlights from the toy category. In fashion and lifestyle, Primark has committed to the property across several departments including womenswear where it is creatively exploring the iconic appeal of the IP amongst an adult female audience with Minions-themed PJs, a nightie, socks, onesies, and playful makeup cases, and Kipling has launched a Minions Back-to-School collection with backpacks and accessories in Northern Europe. The franchise also continues to attract big FMCG partners with Premier Foods launching its Minion-inspired Ambrosia Desert Range, Angel Delight and Mr Kipling limited-edition Banana Slices - perfect for family teatime. Swizzels have launched Despicable Me 4-inspired Squashies in the UK, and meanwhile, in Spain, McDonalds has run a branded Happy Meal promotion throughout the key school summer holiday period.
UP&E have been adding value to key partnerships with significant investment in retail activations across the region. In the UK, The Entertainer hosted Minions activations zones in stores featuring costume character meet and greets and demo areas with Moose’s Fart Blaster, while Morrisons featured dedicated Minions displays across Food and Toy. In Italy, GP Retail has been dedicating areas in all stores, including Hamleys, to cross-category Despicable Me 4 product.
Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise has now surpassed a global box office of $5 billion and Gru and his Minions crew will continue to rise as Illumination confirm that Minions 3 is coming in 2027.
About Despicable Me Franchise
More than ten years after their creation, Gru, the world’s greatest supervillain, and the Minions are among the most iconic animated characters of their generation. Globally recognized and beloved by fans of all ages, they have propelled Illumination’s Despicable Me and Minions into the most successful animated film franchise in history, earning more than $5.4 billion at the worldwide box office.
The franchise includes Minions, one of the top five highest-grossing animated films of all time and the most profitable film in Universal’s history, as well as the Academy Award®- nominated Despicable Me 2 and Despicable Me 3, which made more than $1 billion at the global box office. In 2022, Minions: The Rise of Gru, shattered box office records with the highest grossing July 4th opening weekend in U.S. history and became the #1 film internationally and worldwide. Despicable Me 4, released in July 2024, opened at #1 in North America, giving the franchise the greatest number of #1 one opening weekends for an animated franchise ever.
Gru is one of the few protagonists who is also an antagonist, whose sweet and subversive qualities make him relatable to all audiences. Bright yellow, instantly unforgettable, speaking a language that no one knows but that everyone can understand, the Minions— including Kevin, Bob, Stuart and Otto —have become icons of self-expression in pop culture on every continent of the globe.
Beneath the over-the-top antics and seemingly misguided intentions of the Minions, the franchise explores themes of loyalty, friendship and an unspoken narrative about the families we choose and devote ourselves to defending. The franchise reflects the idea that whoever you are, or whatever your dreams, you can find your tribe and become a family, no matter how unconventional.
About UNIVERSAL PRODUCTS & EXPERIENCES
Universal Products & Experiences (UP&E) globally drives the expansion and elevation of NBCUniversal’s iconic collection of brands, intellectual properties, characters, and stories based on the company’s extensive portfolio of properties created by Universal Pictures, Illumination, DreamWorks Animation and NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. The division executes this through innovative physical and digital products, engaging retail and product experiences across our expansive global theme park destinations (for both owned and 3rd party IP), location-based venues, e-commerce product platforms, and retailers around the world. Along with global brand strategy and creative, UP&E’s three lines of business include Consumer Products, Games and Digital Platforms, as well as Theme Parks Products & Retail. UP&E is a division of Universal Destinations & Experiences, part of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. More information is available at universalproductsexperiences.com.
