‘Minions’ Marches Past $1 Billion at Worldwide Box Office, Becomes Third Highest-Grossing Animated Film Ever

Little yellow helpers grossed $321.9 million domestically and $682 million internationally

Illumination Entertainment’s “Minions” has crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, another milestone for Universal Pictures, which recently shattered the record for domestic grosses in a single year.

With Thursday night’s haul, the little yellow helpers grossed $321.9 million domestically and $682 million internationally.

It is now officially the third highest-grossing animated film of all time, coming in behind “Frozen” and “Toy Story 3,” which made $1.3 billion and $1.06 million, respectively. “Minions” is the 23rd highest-grossing film of all time.

This also marks the first time a studio has had three films cross $1 billion in a single year. “Furious 7” has made $1.5 billion and “Jurassic World” has grossed $1.6 billion so far.

It’s a reigning year for Universal Pictures, as the studio soared past the $5 billion mark at the worldwide box office in July, breaking another industry record. It also scored $2.11 million at the domestic box office this week, passing the old domestic mark of $2.105 billion four months earlier than previous record holder Warner Bros. did in 2009.

Illumination’s five releases, which include “Despicable Me,” “Hop,” “The Lorax,” “Despicable Me 2” and “Minions,” have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide.

“Minions” has three more markets in which to open after Italy’s release on Friday. It will debut in Turkey on Sept. 4, China on Sept. 13 and Greece on Sept. 24.

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