Minions, the Despicable Me spin-off about the small, denim-clad yellow creatures that live to serve whatever baddie they can find, is set to make Universal tens of millions at the US box office on release this Friday.
The film has already been a huge hit in the UK, making £11.5m in its opening weekend and going on to surpass the £20m mark, easily holding off the challenges of both Terminator: Genisys and Magic Mike XXL to remain top of the box office. Worldwide it has done well too, taking over $125m in 26 markets.
The run of success is expected to continue in the US, where the $100m mark is likely to be passed with ease. That would see it outperform this summer’s previous animated hit, Inside Out, which took $90m in its opening weekend.
For Universal, Minions is another winner in what has been a very profitable year, with Jurassic World and Furious 7, both making over $1bn worldwide. Earlier in the year Fifty Shades of Grey also brought in over $500m.
The previous Despicable Me films starred Steve Carell as supervillain Gru, but his lovable minions have become the most recognised characters of the franchise. A fourth film, Despicable Me 3, is due for release in 2017.
