Latest in Illumination

Illumination and Universal's Despicable Me 4 handily crossed the six-century mark at the global box office this week, now with $632M through Thursday. The latest in the series has pushed the worldwide running total for the Despicable Me/Minions franchise to $5.3B, overtaking Transformers ($5.295B) and the…

As Illumination/Universal's Despicable Me 4 continues global rollout, and with its Friday numbers included, the latest from Gru and the gang has helped propel the Despicable Me/Minions franchise across the $5B mark (to $5.025B through Friday) at the worldwide box office. This makes it the first animated…

The bananas obsessed creatures won’t stop: Universal Pictures will release Illumination's Minions 3 on Wed, June 30, 2027. The news comes in the wake of Despicable Me 4 clearing $255M at the global box office following its July 3 opening stateside. Minions 3 is written by Brian Lynch…

July 3 will mark the latest installment in Illumination and Universal’s Despicable Me franchise, just in time for Independence Day weekend. Despicable Me 4, which premiered at the 2024 French Annecy International Animation Film Festival has recruited some new voices for its latest set of shenanigans…

So we got Inside Out 2 potentially reaching $90M this coming weekend, Paramount’s Quiet Place: Day One north of $40M+ on June 28, and the July 3rd release of Illumination/Universal’s Despicable Me 4 targeting a $100M+ over 5-days, likely more. Fingers crossed, but it’s momentum at the summer box office…

When Netflix released its latest major data set on Thursday — its second under the name of What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report — animated features continued to demonstrate a major impact for the streamer. Of the top 100 most viewed titles in the period of review, from July to December 2023, 33…

Universal and Illumination’s smash The Super Mario Bros Movie finishes No. 1 to make it a wrap on Deadline's Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament for 2023. While the industry is still coming out of Covid and the aftermath of the strikes, there’s no question about the major motion picture studios’ embrace…

Chris Meledandri’s Illumination animation house has had a boatload of hits from Despicable Me and Minions to 2023’s global smash The Super Mario Bros Movie. But in between, this underrated (in terms of awards) producer of delightful and genuinely funny toons creates new franchises by embracing originals…

Illumination's upcoming film Migration is a comedy about a family of ducks trying to fly from New York to Jamaica. Writer-director Benjamin Renner makes his 3D animation debut, and John Powell wrote the score for his film. Renner told the audience Saturday at Deadline's Contenders Film: Los Angeles event…

For Migration, composer John Powell was tasked with creating a theme for a reluctant hero that evolves throughout his journey. Written and directed by Benjamin Renner, Migration follows a family of ducks on a new journey. Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) is a mallard who is content with never leaving the safety of…

EXCLUSIVE: The Super Mario Bros. Movie has set its Netflix premiere date for the U.S., Deadline has learned, which is the same day the film is set to leave Peacock: December 3rd. At Netflix, the record-breaker from Uni/Illumination joins a slate of titles with which the whole family can engage. With…

With Tuesday's grosses, Illumination/Nintendo/Universal's The Super Mario Bros. Movie has crossed the $100M (13.74B yen) mark in Japan. In doing so, it becomes Universal's top title ever there. In local currency, Mario overtakes Top Gun: Maverick as the No. 6 Hollywood film of all time in Japan, and is…