Rise Of Gru’ Passes ‘Sing 2’ As Top-Grossing Toon Since ‘Frozen II’

Universal and Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru earned another $6.3 million (-61% from last Monday despite last Monday being a holiday) to bring its 11-day domestic total up to $217 million. Presuming a continued 52/48 domestic/overseas split, the $80 million animated sequel has earned around $417 million globally. That’s well above the $406 million worldwide cume for Illumination’s Sing 2, which had previously been the “biggest Covid-era animated grosser.” Now that Minions 2 has passed that, it’s the biggest-grossing animated film domestically and worldwide since Walt Disney’s Frozen II ($477 million/$1.45 billion) in late 2019.

The next three biggest toons since 2020 are Sing 2, Walt Disney’s Encanto ($96 million domestic and $256 million worldwide in late 2021) and DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys ($96.3 million domestic and $245 million worldwide from April 2022). Whether The Bad Guys, which cost $80 million to produce, makes it past Disney’s “huge on Disney+” original musical in raw global grosses, it has already passed it domestically. Based on a long-running Aaron Blabey-penned YA comedy series (book 16 arriving in November), the kid-friendly crime caper will likely end well above Lightyear ($112 million domestic and $204 million worldwide thus far).

Pixar flourished in the mid-2000s (Finding Nemo in 2003 through Toy Story 3 in 2010) right as DreamWorks Animation was hitting its stride (Shrek 2 in 2004 through Madagascar 3 in 2012) as a commercial (and artistic) juggernaut. Illumination supplanted DWA as the #2 animation contender in the 2010s. Still, Walt Disney Animation and Pixar gems of Frozen, Inside Out, Moana and Coco flourished alongside Despicable Me 2, Minions, Sing and The Grinch. While Disney has thrived alongside competitors, being essentially the underdog and/or “second best” (commercially speaking, as Encanto, Soul and Turning Red are great movies) is new territory for the Mouse House.

Will Bob Chapek and friends recommit to emphasizing theatrical releases over streaming debuts to protect Disney’s reputation as the king of the mountain? Or will Disney implicitly cede the territory to a rival studio with the presumption that shareholders prefer Disney+ gains over theatrical revenue? I do not know the answer to that. Still, I imagine we’ll get a big clue when Walt Disney’s Strange World (whose trailer plays very well on a big Dolby screen) opens over Thanksgiving weekend and then again if/when Pixar’s Elemental opens theatrically next summer. Ironically, congrats on Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers on that “best movie” Emmy nomination.