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Despicable Me 4 Ott Verdict (Week 1)( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Despicable Me 4 might have beaten Venom 3 at the worldwide box office but got axed by Tom Hardy’s movie during its debut week on Netflix. The 4th film is one of the biggest hits of 2024 which has been finally made available for free. Keep scrolling for the deets.

Besides this 4th movie, Despicable Me 3 and Minions have also occupied spots in the top five of the weekly top 10 global list. However, it got beaten by Venom: The Last Dance, probably because it started streaming a few days after the Sony movie. The 2024 animated movie features the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Stephen Colbert, Sofía Vergara, Steve Coogan, Renaud, Madison Polan, Dana Gaier, Chloe Fineman, and Will Ferrell.

For the unversed, Despicable Me 4 premiered on Netflix on February 28, three days after Venom...

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“Zero Day” jumped to the top of Netflix’s most-watched TV list in its second week on the streamer.

The Robert De Niro-led political thriller series sat atop the Top 10 English TV list during the week of Feb. 24 with 17.9 million views. Despite a slight decline in its viewership from its debut week — during which “Zero Day” logged 19.1 million views — the show climbed up the list from its No. 2 position last week, when it failed to surpass viewership for “American Murder: Gabby Petito.”

This week, “American Murder” slid to the No. 2 position with 11.3 million views, down drastically from last week’s viewership of 31.3 million views. Still, viewership for “Gabby Petito” exceeded that of “Running Point,” which debuted in the No. 3 spot on the list with 9.3 million views.

Last week,...

Despicable Me is already the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time based on its box office gross. Now, the series is also establishing its streaming dominance.

The franchise, which debuted in 2010, has since seen Gru's Minions branch out with their own films. With movies in the original series and two Minion-led spinoffs, the franchise has been a major hit, passing the four Shrek films and its two Puss in Boots spinoffs at the box office. Per Tudum, Despicable Me also beat Shrek on streaming, taking over the charts globally for the week between Feb. 17 and 23.

RelatedShrek 5 Casts Zendaya in Major Role

DreamWorks Animation announces the main voice cast for Shrek 5 and it includes Zendaya in a major role.

Just recently, the DreamWorks Adaptations Shrek franchise took over streaming with several installments ahead of the highly anticipated Shrek 5. The first three films stayed in the global charts for two weeks.

There are lots of changes from last week's top five lists of most viewed shows and movies on Netflix. The latest details are now on Tudum and reveal eight new entries across the two lists. Time then to take a closer look at whats new and the two that remained.

With lots of movies being added over recent weeks and a few departing from the platform, some changes were almost inevitable. Though I didn't expect to see just one remain unchanged from last week. As is often the case, some favorite old characters make a reappearance, too.

Likewise, in terms of shows there were some big hitters arriving on our screens recently. That's definitely had an impact this week with just one remaining from the previous week. The list highlights the ongoing popularity of a docuseries to get behind a story we know and fits well alongside the demand for great drama and thrillers.

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The 2025 SAG Awards failed to crack into Netflix’s Top 10 TV programs for the week.

The livestream of the awards show, which streamed Sunday, Feb. 23, was not included in the streamer’s Top 10 viewership list for the week of Feb. 17, meaning that viewership for the SAG Awards was exceeded by the Feb. 17 installment of WWE’s Monday Night Raw, which took the No. 10 spot on the TV list. While Netflix has not released exact viewing figures for the SAG Awards, it can be assumed the show saw less than the 2.8 million views seen by Raw.

Last year’s SAG Awards, which marked the first time Netflix livestreamed the ceremony, similarly did not rank within the Top 10 TV shows for that week.

“American Murder: Gabby Petito,” however, was Netflix’s...

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The 2025 SAG Awards failed to crack into Netflix’s Top 10 TV programs for the week.

The livestream of the awards show, which streamed Sunday, Feb. 23, was not included in the streamer’s Top 10 viewership list for the week of Feb. 17, meaning that viewership for the SAG Awards was exceeded by the Feb. 17 installment of WWE’s Monday Night Raw, which took the No. 10 spot on the TV list. While Netflix has not released exact viewing figures for the SAG Awards, it can be assumed the show saw less than the 2.8 million views seen by Raw.

Last year’s SAG Awards, which marked the first time Netflix livestreamed the ceremony, similarly did not rank within the Top 10 TV shows for that week.

“American Murder: Gabby Petito,” however, was Netflix’s...

Audiences are seemingly still enthralled by Gabby Petito’s disappearance, flocking to Netflix’s latest docuseries about the tragedy nearly four years later.

American Murder: Gabby Petito put up a massive 31.3M views from February 17 to February 23, reaching No. 1 on the English-language TV list globally. It was among the Top 10 in 90 countries, per Netflix.

It was a fairly strong week overall for Netflix’s unscripted content, even amid the release of some flashy scripted series. American Murder: Gabby Petito was one of five non-fiction series to hit the Top 10 English-language TV list,

The Search For Instagram’s Worst Con Artist came in third place with 5.5M views, followed by the latest season of Love Is Blind in fourth place with 5M views. Court of Gold served up 2.8M views, which was good enough for eighth place, and WWE’s Raw was once again on the list on tenth place with 2.8M views.

The success of The Night Agent is apparently not a one-season phenomenon.

The Netflix thriller recorded its biggest week to date with the opening of its second season. The show amassed 3.11 billion minutes of viewing for the week of Jan. 20-26 (season two premiered Jan. 23), according to Nielsen’s streaming ratings, topping its previous best of 3.06 billion minutes in March 2023.

Nielsen says viewing of season two accounted for 76 percent of the weekly total, which works out to about 2.36 billion minutes.

After making its debut on the streaming charts a week earlier, Apple TV+’s Severance improved a little on that performance with 622 million minutes of viewing (a gain of about 6 percent week to week). That’s the highest weekly total for any Apple TV+ show since Ted Lasso in 2023.

The previous week’s overall No. 1, Netflix’s movie Back in Action, came down a little bit but still had a...

After spending three weeks at No. 1 on Nielsen’s overall streaming viewership chart, Netflix’s Squid Game has relinquished its crown.

Netflix’s Jamie Foxx-Cameron Diaz thriller Back In Action landed the top spot this week with 1.5 billion minutes viewed, Nielsen said in its weekly update on Thursday. Squid Game fell to No. 4 on the overall streaming chart with 1.25 billion minutes viewed during the Jan. 13-Jan. 19 frame, the most recent week in the data firm’s tally.

Meanwhile, Billy Bob Thornton-starrer Landman kept up its run with 1.05 billion minutes of viewing and represents the only Paramount+ show outside of library title Dexter to chart in the top 5 for this week on either the TV or movies charts.

Speaking of Western-influenced shows, Peter Berg’s American Primeval, which was the top premiere on the streaming chart last week, rose to No. 2 on the overall chart with 1.41 billion minutes viewed.

As we’ve seen, some people will go to great lengths to keep their money. In the new comedy from director Max Barbakow, Kristen Wiig does what it takes to hold onto her fortune, even if that means hooking up with a new, wealthy husband, played by Bill Murray, to keep creditors from pilfering her stash. Rocket Science invites you to witness a match made in Hollywood heaven as Bill Murray and Kristen Wiig star in Epiphany, an upcoming comedy from Scrooged and The Recruit writer Mitch Glazer.

Here’s the official synopsis for Epiphany courtesy of Rocket Science:

“When her massive fortune evaporates overnight, heiress and fashionista Favorite Ives (Wiig) has two weeks to nab a rich husband and fight creditors to stay off the street. Her desperate search for a big-money mark slams her into eccentric math savant and billionaire Oz Bell (Murray). Favorite needs Oz’s...

Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry have decided to scrap their movie musical that was in the postproduction process for Universal Pictures.

Golden, which previously went by the title Atlantis, will not be shopped to other interested parties, as the creative team is not continuing on with the project. It had previously been scheduled for release on May 9.

The star-studded cast included Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott and Quinta Brunson. The project was set in Virginia Beach during the summer of 1977 and inspired by Atlantis Apartments, the neighborhood where Williams grew up. Gondry helmed the musical from a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson, while Williams was a producer alongside Mimi Valdés and Gil Netter.

“When all of us got into the editing room, we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,...

Season 2 of ‘The Night Agent’ became the most-watched Netflix series during the week of Jan. 20-26, racking up 13.9 million views in its first four days.

While its debut was strong, it didn’t match the launch of Season 1 in 2023, which had 168.7 million hours watched in just four days, equating to about 20.6 million views. The success of Season 2 also brought more viewers back to Season 1, which earned 4.9 million views and landed in fourth place on the charts that week.

‘Back in Action’ stayed at No. 1 on the English-language film list for the second week, with 46.8 million views. ‘Ad Vitam’ topped the non-English language films list for the third week, earning 8.4 million views. ‘The Recruit’ Season 1 secured No. 10 on the English TV list with 1.7 million views as viewers awaited Season 2.’ Carry-On’ remained at No. 9 on the English films list with 2.7 million views. ‘Knight and Day’ appeared at No. 10 on the English films list,...

Back In Action. (L to R) Jamie Foxx as Matt and Cameron Diaz as Emily in Back In Action. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2024. It was a week of high-stakes action and international intrigue on Netflix, with spies and secret agents dominating the Top 10 charts. The Night Agent claimed the No. 1 spot with a whopping 13.9 million views for its second season. This Gabriel Basso-led thriller clearly struck a chord, landing in the Top 10 in 90 countries! And with Season 2 dropping, viewers are revisiting Season 1 (No. 4), proving this show has serious staying power. But Peter Sutherland wasn’t the only spy making waves. Back in Action, starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, held onto its No. 1 position on the English-language film list for the second week in a row. Clearly, audiences are loving this action-comedy duo. Speaking of Diaz, she’s got double the action this week! Her 2010 film Knight and Day,...

Oscar nominated films took the #8 (“A Complete Unknown”) and #10 (“The Brutalist”) slots in theatrical box office this weekend. It’s a different story with home viewing, as seen by the current charts at iTunes (listing by transactions) and Fandango (revenue).

Of their 20 total positions, 12 are held by films with at least one nomination. That covers nine different films, with three on both.

Though the top three titles were big box offices hits with little or no need for awards to elevate their home interest. Just released “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Paramount) is #1 at both iTunes and Fandango, while “Nosferatu,” also new, is second at Fandango, third at iTunes (after placing second most of its first week out). Previous #1 for two weeks “Wicked” (Universal) is #2 at Fandango, #3 at iTunes.

The same is not true at Netflix. “Emilia Pérez,” for which they have U.S., Canada, and U.K. rights, led with 13 nominations.

If nothing else, you can at least make the case that Netflix viewers have a certain kind of diverse taste. While the current situation is pretty dire, with Cameron Diaz's first movie in 11 years dominating the Netflix charts despite terrible reviews, last year we saw the director of "Green Room" top the same charts with the excellent action thriller "Rebel Ridge." Likewise, movies such as Kevin Hart's "Lift" enjoy baffling success on the streamer but so too do stellar sci-fi epics directed by Christopher Nolan, such as when "Interstellar" topped the Netflix charts to start 2025.

In all, then, Netflix is an infinitely fascinating yet confounding landscape -- one that's populated by the kind of streaming slop responsible for watering down the entire concept of moviemaking, yet also capable of exposing global audiences to Academy Award nominated films such as the Spanish drama "Society of the Snow." Now, the...

After Moana became a cult classic that skyrocketed in popularity thanks to the release of Disney+ in 2019, Disney made the right call by releasing Moana 2 in theaters as a full-length feature instead of sending it straight to Disney+ as a TV show, which was the original plan. Moana 2 joined Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2 as one of the only three movies to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office this weekend, with $442 million coming from domestic earnings and $567 coming from international earnings. This $1.09 billion box office total is enough to make Moana 2 one of the 15 highest-grossing PG movies ever at the global box office, ahead of Despicable Me 2 ($975 million) and Despicable Me 4 ($969 million), but still behind Finding Dory ($1.025 billion) and Zootopia ($1.025 billion).

Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is quickly climbing Netflix's charts following its premiere on the platform. Tom Gormican's 2022 action-comedy sees a fictionalized and down-on-his-luck Cage embark on a paid appearance at billionaire super-fan Javi Gutierrez's (Pascal) birthday party, only to find himself swept up in a CIA plot. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent also stars Sharon Horgan, Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Neil Patrick Harris, and Paco León.

After netting a score of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes upon release, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent had an incredible debut among audiences upon its Netflix premiere. Within the first week of being added to the streaming service's catalog, Cage and Pascal's action-comedy has risen up the daily charts. As of Sunday, January 19, the movie is the #6 title on the list of Top 10 Movies in the U.S. today. It comes behind new release Back in Action,...

A24's hit psychological horror film Hereditary has been enjoying new success on Netflix. The film is No. 8 on Netflix's Top 10 movies in the U.S.

FlixPatrol reports that Hereditary has been in the Top 10 since Jan. 16, when it was #6, before dropping to #8 yesterday and holding that position today. The film, released in 2018, stars Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd and Gabriel Byrne as it explores the supernatural and psychological torment that follows a grieving family. Hereditary was written and directed by Ari Aster in his feature directorial debut and was critically acclaimed, with a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Hereditary was added to Netflix earlier this month.

Related A Forgotten Pixar Masterpiece Has a Bizarre Secret Sequel That's Dominating Disney+

One of Pixar's earliest movies, A Bug's Life, has a bizarre spiritual sequel that is currently climbing the viewership charts on Disney+.

Hereditary also proved to be...

In 2022, Nicolas Cage played Nicolas Cage in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," a delightful comedy outing that saw the veteran star come across as what /Film's Jacob Hall described as "often nuanced, generally restrained, and painfully, awkwardly human." That's quite an accomplishment for Cage, who has been known for anything but his restraint in the last couple of decades. Even when he starred in the most terrifying horror movie of 2024, "Longlegs," he played the mysterious and creepy serial killer with an over-the-top relish. I went into that theater wondering if we'd see some kind of uncharacteristic restraint on Cage's behalf, but after he started scream-singing five minutes into the movie I thought, "Nope!" Not to say his performance was bad, but if you saw him in David Gordon Green's 2013 effort "Joe," you might too be hoping for more of the quietly brooding older Nic Cage and less of...

A24 has become one of the leading producers in horror over the past decade. Most recently, their horror film Heretic succeeded at the box office and among critics, scoring an impressive 91% Tomatometer. The central Heretic performance by Hugh Grant has also garnered attention at awards ceremonies, earning the actor nominations at the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. 2024 also saw the release of other A24 horror films including Y2K, The Front Room, MaXXXine, and I Saw The TV Glow.

But even before last year, A24 has been cultivating directorial talents in the horror genre for years. They were the distributor behind The Witch, for example, a film that would go on to make stars out of both director Robert Eggers and actor Anya Taylor-Joy. The company added other indie auteurs to its growing list of directorial collaborators, including Clerks helmer Kevin Smith, who directed their wacky 2014 horror film Tusk. Another director...

After the first Moana earned over $680 million at the worldwide box office and became a hit on Disney+ over the last few years, it wasn’t surprising to see its sequel deliver even more extraordinary numbers. After debuting in theaters over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2024, Moana 2 has now grossed $435 million domestically and $555 million from international markets for a worldwide haul of $990 million. This $990 million worldwide total is enough to help Moana 2 become one of the top 15 highest-grossing PG movies ever, recently passing Despicable Me 2 and Despicable Me 4, but still falling short of Finding Dory and Zootopia. Moana 2 will also likely pass $1 billion in the next few days, and surely by the start of next week.

As in the case with most Hollywood projects, there are a couple of dominant names within the animation industry. For years, a single studio was the face of animation in Hollywood: Disney. The company has been releasing animated features in theaters since 1937, when they premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. From there, the studio continued to make hits, many of which were nominated for major awards. The animation landscape changed when DreamWorks was created in the '90s. Their first movie, The Prince of Egypt, was critically acclaimed upon its 1998 release.

DreamWorks would go on to release Shrek, which rivals Disney Pixar's Toy Story movies as one of the biggest animated series of all time. Disney and DreamWorks still dominate the box office today, with both studios producing high-grossing films in 2024. Over the last two decades, however, the animated landscape has continued to shift as studios like Blue Sky Studios,...

“The Substance” (Mubi) and “Flow” (Janus/Sideshow), two very independent specialized releases, add to their theatrical and awards successes with strong interest on home viewing.

“Wicked” (Universal), expecting even greater recognition repeats as #1 at both iTunes (ranking by transactions) and Fandango (by revenue) in its second week out. The studio, which like others rarely announces home video returns, said its first week out had $70 million in rentals and sales. They get 80 percent of this after a small carriage fee deduction, a much higher return than in theaters. This buttresses the claim of how vital PVOD is, even if its often early streaming release seems to intrude on theatrical play.

Netflix, meanwhile, underwent a wholesale turnover this week, with only three films listed last week still on their top 10. “Ad Vitam,” an original French thriller in the Liam Neeson-mold that follows a lone avenger saving a family member in danger,...

Steve Carell's Despicable Me franchise is proving to have a longstanding devoted viewership, especially on Netflix. As of January 9, the first film, Despicable Me and the sequel, Despicable Me 2 are in the Top 10 Movies in the U.S. on Netflix. Carell leads the 2010 film as supervillain Gru, alongside Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher, playing his adoptive daughters Margo, Edith and Agnes. The logline for the first film is as follows:...

A classic Jackie Chan film franchise is proving to be very successful on Netflix. All three Rush Hour films are in Netflix's Top 10 chart for the week.

According to FlixPatrol, the original Rush Hour film from 1998 is the top performing film in the trilogy at the #4 spot on Netflix's Top 10 in the United States chart. Rush Hour 2 and 3 hold spots #7 and #9 respectively. The successful buddy cop comedy films saw Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in leading roles as police detectives who go on adventures taking down corrupt crime figures in both Hong Kong and Los Angeles. Other movies currently in Netflix's Top 10 include The Age of Adaline starring Blake Lively (#10), Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 (#8), Hotel Transylvania 2 (#6), Due Date (#5), Despicable Me (#3), Despicable Me 2 (#2), and Ad Vitam (#1).

Related Ryan Gosling's Criminally Underseen Action Flick From 2024 Is Topping the Streaming Charts

Ryan Gosling's underrated 2024 action movie...

Robert Downey Jr. and Joker director Todd Phillips’ road trip comedy with a 39% Rotten Tomatoes score is climbing the Netflix charts, more than a decade after its original release. Among the most successful and beloved contemporary actors, Downey Jr. has starred in a wide variety of movies throughout his well-observed, 55-year career. Before portraying Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, which won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, or his tenure as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the MCU, he had done many comedies and even joined the cast of SNL during season 11.

Within comedy, Downey Jr. appeared in The Pick-up Artist, Soapdish, The Shaggy Dog, and the acclaimed, but debated, Tropic Thunder, among other films. However, he has proven more than capable of working across genres, as evidenced by his more dramatic roles and blockbuster accomplishments, similar to Todd Phillips’ transition from largely humor-infused projects to the 2019 thriller Joker. Prior to making that movie,...

The year 2024 was undoubtedly a fantastic year for animated movies. Inside Out 2 surpassed Frozen II to become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time at the worldwide box office. It made just shy of $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office, positioning it as the highest-grossing movie of the year. It was not the only animated movie to achieve success. In fact, four of 2024's top 10 highest-grossing movies were animated films, including Despicable Me 4, Moana 2, and Kung Fu Panda 4.

Moana 2 box office is still going strong and now seems like a likely contender to join the elite group of animated movies that have made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. At the time of writing, only 11 animated movies had reached this achievement, and most are under Disney. However, one of the most successful animated franchises came from a studio other than Disney, and some of...

After the previous installment in the spinoff series pushed the franchise to a major financial milestone, Minions 3 is getting an earlier release date.

The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that Universal is shifting some of its upcoming release calendar around. One such movie getting a new release date is Minions 3, with the Despicable Me threequel spinoff now set for a July 1, 2026 date, taking over the slot from Shrek 5, which is now set for December 23 that same year. This also puts Minions 3 in theaters nearly a full year early, having originally been set for a June 30, 2027 release date.

Developing...

Source: THR

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Despicable Me

Gru, a villain with ambitions to steal the moon, adopts three orphaned girls to aid his scheme. Unexpectedly, he finds himself growing attached to them, which complicates his plans. As Gru...

Netflix audiences keep surprising people with their viewing preferences. And the streamer itself, for all its promotion and advertising and celebration of its award wins, opts not to mention this on its home website.

PVOD consumers, digitally renting or buying recent releases, performed as expected with the release of “Wicked” (Universal) last week. It is #1 at both iTunes and Fandango, with last week’s #1 “Gladiator II” (Paramount) dropping to second.

After 21 days at #1 on their U.S. top 10 movie list, the Netflix original “Carry-On” dropped to #6, below five older theatrical releases. It almost certainly will be #1 on Netflix’s weekly chart for the third time — unheard of for any film, let alone homegrown — but as of Monday, it and Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight” (#10 currently) are the only two originals on the list.

January 1 saw a big infusion of added titles from Netflix’s deals with Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery,...

Despicable Me Films Ranked At The Worldwide Box Office( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Despicable Me 4 kept the theatres busy in 2024, and although it was predicted to cross the $1 billion mark, it fell short of that. However, it was still a huge success and one of the top 5 highest-grossing films of last year. However, is it the biggest film in the main franchise? Let’s find out!

About the Franchise –

The franchise was created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul, and Ken Daurio. The films are produced by Illumination and distributed by its parent company, Universal Pictures. The first film came out in 2010, and it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin. Meanwhile, the fourth film has only been directed by Chris Renaud. There are four films in the Despicable Me film series and two prequel series, Minions and Minions: The Rise of Gru. However, we will only rank the Despicable Me films.

One of Hollywood’s most promising names in the past decade has been Lin-Manuel Miranda. After his stunning success on Broadway, dozens of films have called up the songwriter for his expertise. This has been great for the musician and actor, who racked up an Emmy win, five Emmy nominations, and two Oscar nominations since 2017. Miranda’s latest contribution to Disney comes with Mufasa: The Lion King. Building on the foundation of Disney’s iconic franchise, Miranda finds himself in the Oscar race once again. Meanwhile, with visual effects awards in flux, Mufasa hopes to hear its name on Oscar nomination morning in more than one category.

(L-r): Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre), Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), and Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) in Disney’s live-action Mufasa: The Lion King. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved. Related Mufasa: The Lion King’s First Reviews Are Disney...

Wicked Box Office (North America): Beats The Batman (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Did Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 slow down Wicked? Well, it doesn’t seem that way! The movie continues its strong legs in the US and has surpassed more than one movie, including The Batman’s domestic runs, to become one of the 65 highest-grossing films of all time. Scroll below for the deets.

The Batman by Matt Reeves, starring Robert Pattinson, was released in 2022. It featured Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell in supporting roles besides Pattinson. It was reportedly made against a budget of $185-$200 million and was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2022. It collected $369.34 million in the US and $402.97 million overseas.

The Batman’s global total was an impressive $772.31 million. Now, according to Luiz Fernando’s report, Wicked has surpassed The Batman...

Moana 2 has found success like few others at the box office this year, grossing $344 million domestically and $379 million in foreign markets to help its global cumulative total reach $723 million. As it currently stands, Moana 2 is the fourth-highest-grossing movie of the year worldwide, as well as the fifth-highest-grossing movie of the year domestically and the eighth-highest-grossing movie of 2024 internationally. The $344 million domestic total has helped Moana 2 become one of the top 50 highest-grossing sequels ever, currently in the #46 spot. The Dwayne Johnson-led Disney sequel recently passed Thor: Love and Thunder and Spider-Man 3 once it got inside the top 50, and it’s just short of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers but further behind Despicable Me 4 and Despicable Me 2.

Moana 2’s third-week box office success sets the course for Disney repeating a feat from 2019. Before completing its first month in theaters, the sequel already beat the first installment’s five-month worldwide grossing of $643 million. Moana 2’s new and returning cast is key in sparking a renewed interest in the franchise, as adding new characters has given a fresh perspective while expanding on familiar dynamics that made the original great. The demigod twist in Moana 2’s ending effectively sets up future installments, not to mention the confirmed live-action and possible sequels and TV shows about characters like Maui and Simea.

Despite Moana 2’s reviews being considerably worse than the first, its early box office numbers surpass the first movie by a lot, positioning it to become the studio’s favorite franchise in the years to come. Beating Frozen 2’s record of having the biggest Thanksgiving opening gross of all time,...

Inside Out 2 is the highest-grossing movie of 2024 by a pretty wide margin, and it’s the first animated film to top the box office of an entire year in a long time. Not only is it the highest-grossing film of the year; Inside Out 2 is the highest-grossing animated movie ever made. It surpassed the 2019 remake of The Lion King, which has always been controversial for holding the record since it’s a photorealistic “live-action” reimagining of the animated classic. Now that Inside Out 2 has taken its throne, the highest-grossing animated movie is indisputably an animated movie.

The box office success of Inside Out 2 is a great example of a multigenerational hit. Whereas something like Despicable Me 4 will only appeal to younger viewers and something like Dune: Part Two will only appeal to older viewers, Inside Out 2 appeals to viewers of all ages. The colorful...

Quick Links 'Despicable Me' and 'Minions' Movies in Chronological Order Minions (2015) Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) Despicable Me (2010) Despicable Me 2 (2013) Despicable Me 3 (2017) Despicable Me 4 (2024) 'Despicable Me' and 'Minions' Movies in Release Order

With Despicable Me 4 available on Peacock and set to hit Netflix in March 2025, it's time to give viewers a proper chronological viewing order of the popular Illumination franchise. Remember, watching a movie franchise in chronological order differs from watching in release order, with the narrative continuity taking precedence over scheduling. Therefore, with at least two prequels in the hit animated film series, tracking how and where each cinematic story fits within the overarching Minions universe is vital.

In addition to gifting viewers the ideal Minions and Despicable Me viewing guide, the aim is to include a trailer for each release and provide information about where each movie can be streamed online.

When putting together the song, “Piece by Piece,” for the documentary about his life of the same name, Pharrell Williams saw it as a chance explore everything in his life that has led him to where he is right now. “It’s thinking about how everything collectively is your story. If you think about all of the crazy times that you have experienced in your life and all the fun times and all the sad times and all of the momentous time and all the times you were caught off guard by things that just blindsided you,” he tells Gold Derby during our recent webchat (watch the video interview above). He even traces it to the medium in which his story is told in the film. “They’re all piece by piece and it’s very interesting that it’s sort of synonymous with how the Lego world works.”

“Piece by Piece,...

Moana 2 Box Office (North America): Thanksgiving Day Update ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Moana 2 is performing as expected in its opening week. It has beaten Frozen II by almost twice its collection on Thanksgiving Day ever. It set several records with its collection on Thursday and hit a magnificent cume in just two days. Scroll below for the deets.

The critics and audience ratings on the Rotten Tomatoes platform vary slightly, but it is winning hearts in some ways. The critics gave it 65%, while the audience gave it a strong 87%. The critics’ consensus on the esteemed platform read, “Riding high on a wave of stunning animation, even when its story runs adrift, it isn’t as inspired as the original but still delights as a colorful adventure.”

For the unversed, Moana 2 opened in the theatres in North America on Wednesday and has reached a splendid cume in two days.

Though it was founded less than 20 years ago, Illumination has managed to produce some of the biggest animated films of the 21st century. From Despicable Me to Sing, these franchises have released a wealth of spin-off content and merchandise, exemplifying the lucrative nature of this production company. But the company's success doesn't stop there. Illumination is gearing up to release several elusive sequels in the next two years, all of which are expected to be box-office hits.

Alongside these box-office statistics, Illumination has managed to secure an army of avid fans. Though the company mostly aims its films toward children, adults can also appreciate its ability to captivate audiences. As such, it seems that Illumination is set to defeat its surrounding competition as it extends its growing catalog of colorful films.

The Third Installment Was the Weakest of Them All Despicable Me 3

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After the roaring success of Despicable Me...

Despicable Me 4 Box Office (Worldwide): On Track To Surpass The 2nd Film’s Global Haul( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Despicable Me 4 is tiptoeing towards the worldwide haul of the second installment in the film franchise. It has been months since it was released in the theatres, yet it continues to move towards its goal. Although it was predicted to cross the one billion dollar mark, that seems next to impossible now. Scroll below for the deets.

The second installment was released in 2013. It follows Gru as he gets recruited by agent Lucy Wilde to investigate a theft by El Macho, a supervillain seeking world domination. Steve Carell voices Gru in the franchise, which also features Kristen Wiig as Lucy Wilde. In addition to them, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Steve Coogan were also part of the voice cast.

According to Luiz Fernando’s report, Despicable Me 4...

Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of the animation powerhouse Illumination, will be honored with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award at the 36th Annual Producers Guild Awards, the guild announced Thursday.

Meledandri’s credits include “Despicable Me,” the Oscar-nominated “Despicable Me 2,” “The Lorax,” “Minions,” “The Secret Life of Pets,” “Sing,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Migration.”

“The extraordinary vision and innovation Chris brings to animated feature films has not only captivated audiences of all ages but also been instrumental in reshaping the entertainment landscape,” PGA presidents Donald De Line and Stephanie Allain said in a joint statement. “His hands-on, meticulous approach to producing has resulted in the rare accomplishment of record-breaking films and beloved franchises. We are proud to honor Chris with this prestigious award as a leader in both the animation industry and our industry as a whole.”

Meledandri stated, “Being recognized by my peers with the...

Despicable Me 4 Box Office (Worldwide): Update After 18th Weekend( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Gru and the Minions continue to win hearts everywhere with Despicable Me 4. The animated feature has once again earned decent numbers on its eighteenth weekend. The movie was made on a reported budget of $100 million and has grossed a lot more than that. However, the $1 billion mark seems to be challenging to achieve for the Illumination creation. Scroll below for the deets.

It is part of the highest-grossing animation franchise, and 2024 is a few million away from achieving the #2 spot in the franchise. The third installment came out in 2017, and this fourth film came out around seven years later. It has the same appeal, and people enjoy the minions on the big screen. In addition to that, the movie is also available on digital platforms, despite the fact that people are going to the theatres...

Despicable Me 4 Box Office (Worldwide): Update After 18th Weekend( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Gru and the Minions continue to win hearts everywhere with Despicable Me 4. The animated feature has once again earned decent numbers on its eighteenth weekend. The movie was made on a reported budget of $100 million and has grossed a lot more than that. However, the $1 billion mark seems to be challenging to achieve for the Illumination creation. Scroll below for the deets.

It is part of the highest-grossing animation franchise, and 2024 is a few million away from achieving the #2 spot in the franchise. The third installment came out in 2017, and this fourth film came out around seven years later. It has the same appeal, and people enjoy the minions on the big screen. In addition to that, the movie is also available on digital platforms, despite the fact that people are going to the theatres...

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 18-20)Total gross to dateWeek 1. The Wild Robot (Universal) £3.1m £3.3m 1 2. Smile 2 (Paramount) £1.7m £2m 1 3. The Apprentice (Studiocanal) £643,434 £746,303 1 4. Transformers One (Paramount) £642,000 £2.8m 2 5. Terrifier 3 (Signature)

£561,752 £2.2m 2

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.30

Universal animation The Wild Robot opened top of the UK-Ireland box office, with a £3.1m weekend.

Chris Sanders’ family feature, that has a voice cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal and Kit Connor, played in 675 cinemas, taking a £4,591 site average. Including previews, the film has £3.3m. It is slightly down on the £3.6m start of another original Universal animation, Migration, from February this year.

“Because I’m happy clap along if you feel like a room without a roof / Because I’m happy clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth,” is the popular lyrics to a song that lives rent-free in the minds of countless fans some days – bright ones, especially – but it doesn’t necessarily evoke happy memories in the mind of its writer.

When Pharrell Williams penned ‘Happy,’ he was feeling the opposite and meant the song to be sarcastic.

How Pharrell Williams Came To Write the Grammy-winning Song ‘Happy’

One of Pharrell Williams’ biggest hits is ‘Happy’ – the song he didn’t necessarily anticipate to catapult him to massive fame in the 2010s.

Williams wrote ‘Happy’ as a soundtrack to 2013’s ‘Despicable Me 2,’ which went on to attract a massive, rounding out the year as the third highest grossing movie. Four months after the movie premiered, Williams...

Released theatrically on October 11, 2024, Piece by Piece is a stylish animated biographical drama about the life and career of musician Pharrell Williams. Written and directed by Morgan Neville and produced by The Lego Group, the wholesome family film utilizes the Lego animation style popularized by The Lego Movie to paint Williams' vivid life story.

With vocal performances from Williams' closest professional collaborators, including Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Gwen Stefani, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dog, Jay-Z, and more, Piece by Piece is an uplifting, feel-good celebration of a life and career in movies and the music business. However, despite the fun party vibes and dazzling animation, Piece by Piece feels too aimless when all is said and done. Although sure to appeal to Williams fans, Piece by Piece doesn't have enough substance to persuade the unconverted.

2.5/5 Piece by Piece PG

Release Date October 11, 2024Director Morgan NevilleRuntime 94 MinutesCast Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani,...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Oct 11-13) Total gross to date Week 1. Transformers One (Paramount) £1.6m £1.6m 1 2. Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros) £1.4m £8.7m 2 3. Terrifier 3 (Signature) £1m £1m 1 4. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) £769,143 £23.9m 6 5. The Outrun (Studiocanal) £359,911 £359,911 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Paramount animation Transformers One dethroned Joker: Folie À Deux at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as the Warner Bros blockbuster suffered a significant 75% drop.

Transformers One opened to £1.6m in 583 sites at a £2,744 average – down on the stellar £8.7m of 2007’s Transformers and £8.3m of 2009’s Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, but still a decent opening for an animated feature.

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 4-6)Total gross to dateWeek 1. Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros) £5.7m £5.7m 1 2. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) £1.1m £22.8m 5 3. Speak No Evil (Universal) £408,214 £4.8m 4 4. The Substance (Mubi) £358,000 £2.2m 3 5. The Outrun (Studiocanal) £319,542 £1.1m 2

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Warner Bros blockbuster Joker: Folie à Deux topped the UK-Ireland box office on its opening weekend; but its £5.7m start was 54.9% down on the £12.6m opening of the 2019 first film.

Folie à Deux took an £7,826 average from 725 cinemas – also down 58.2% on the £18,734 average from 671 sites of Joker.

A potential yardstick for Folie à Deux’s performance is 2021 comic...

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 4-6)Total gross to dateWeek 1. Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros) £6m £6m 1 2. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) Still to come £22.8m 5 3. Speak No Evil (Universal) £408,214 £4.8m 4 4. The Substance (Mubi) £358,000 £2.2m 3 5. The Outrun (Studiocanal) £319,542 £1.1m 2

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Warner Bros blockbuster Joker: Folie à Deux topped the UK-Ireland box office on its opening weekend; but its £6m start was 52.4% down on the £12.6m opening of the 2019 first film.

Folie à Deux took an £8,276 average from 725 cinemas – also down 55.8% on the £18,734 average from 671 sites of Joker.

A potential yardstick for Folie à Deux’s performance...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Sep 27-29) Total gross to date Week 1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) £1.8m £21m 4 2. Speak No Evil (Universal) £641,119 £4m 3 3. The Substance (Mubi) £420,495 £1.5m 2 4. Lee (Studiocanal) £400,612 £2.8m 3 5. The Outrun (Studiocanal) £397,526 £449,025 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.34

Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun scored a top five spot on its opening weekend at the UK-Ireland box office; as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice held top spot for a fourth successive weekend, and Megalopolis opened outside the top five.

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice added £1.8m – a slim drop of just 27.2%, that brings it to just shy of £21m. It is now the eighth-highest-grossing 2024 release,...