Steve Carell’s Wild Box Office Megahit Is Soaring On Netflix
Steve Carell's Minions: The Rise of Gru is #2 on the Netflix streaming charts.
The Despicable Me franchise has proven to be quite a hit for Universal Pictures, with the animated series grossing approximately $4.4 billion globally. Last year, the fifth installment in the wildly popular, Minions: The Rise of Gru, earned nearly $940 million around the world. Now, the successful follow-up to the spin-off prequel Minions, which sees Steve Carell reprising his role as the voice of Gru, is enjoying a second life on streaming.
According to Flix Patrol, the Minions sequel is currently the #2 movie on Netflix. The film landed on the platform on January 23, and it has quickly become one of the service’s most-streamed movies. You People, a Netflix original, is the only title that stands in its way of it becoming the #1 top-streamed picture on the platform.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is the fifth installment overall in the wildly successful Despicable Me franchise. Directed by Kyle Balda, co-directed by Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val, and produced by Chris Renaud, Janet Healy, and Chris Meledandri, the film centers around an 11-year-old named Gru (Steve Carell), whose big dream is to be a villain. After a failed audition with the supergroup the Vicious 6, he must rely on his evil friends to save him.
Although Minions: The Rise of Gru was announced in 2017, production was delayed for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, it was announced that Pierre Coffin and Steve Carell would be reprising their roles as the Minions and Gru, respectively. Wade Eastwood and Ric Meyere were hired as creative consultants to incorporate 1970s culture and environment in the film, and Flora Zhao joined the crew as a cultural consultant on Chine culture.
The film was officially completed on July 1, 2020, and it was released in theaters exactly two years later. Minions: The Rise of Gru opened to an astonishing $107 million in its debut weekend, making it the fifth biggest movie of 2022. After 2010’s Despicable Me, it’s the highest-grossing movie starring Steve Carell.
In Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Venezuela, the sequel had the biggest opening weekend of all time for an animated movie. In France, The Rise of Guru set multiple box office records. In addition to its opening weekend being the biggest for Illumination of all time, the film had the company’s biggest opening of 2022 in the country.
The sequel earned generally positive reviews from both critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, Minions: The Rise of Gru has a score of 70 percent from critics, which is a notable improvement over its 2015 predecessor. From everyday viewers, the film has a score of 89 percent.
While Minions: The Rise of Gru continues to dominate the streaming charts, Universal Pictures and Illumination are hard at work developing Despicable Me 4. Steve Carell is set to return to voice the character of Gru, and Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Pierre Coffin, and Steve Coogan will also lend their voices in the film. Directed by Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage, the sequel is scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 3, 2024.
