The $970 Million Animated Sequel That Left Disney in the Dust Is a Surprise Streaming Hit 12 Years Later

The movie that turned Illumination into a serious competitor to Disney and Pixar is now blowing up on streaming. 12 years after its release, Despicable Me 2 is finding success on Netflix.

According to FlixPatrol, as of Aug. 14, Despicable Me 2 is ranked No. 8 on Netflix’s Top 10 Movies list in the United States. The animated sequel was a huge hit for Illumination, grossing over $970 million at the worldwide box office to become the studio’s highest-grossing film ever at the time. While the first Despicable Me was also a commercial success with a box office haul of $543 million, Despicable Me 2 proved that Illumination could play in the big leagues alongside Disney and Pixar. Its $970M haul was vastly higher than any Walt Disney Animation Studios movie that had been released since The Lion King in 1994.

Despicable Me 2 didn’t leave Disney in the dust for long, though, as the House of Mouse released Frozen later that same year, which strolled past Despicable Me 2 with $1.2 billion at the box office. However, 12 years later, Disney and Pixar are once again struggling at the box office, while Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise continues to find commercial success, with its last two installments — 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru and 2024’s Despicable Me 4 — grossing over $940 million each.

What Happens in Despicable Me 2?

Gru looks determined and is holding two guns as he goes to save Lucy in Despicable Me 2.

Image via Illumination

Directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, Despicable Me 2 follows secret agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) as she recruits retired supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) to investigate the theft of a powerful mutagen by supervillain El Macho (Benjamin Bratt). Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, and Ken Jeong also star in the animated sequel. Despicable Me 2 was followed by two direct sequels — Despicable Me 3 (2017) and Despicable Me 4 (2024) — as well as the spinoffs Minions (2015) and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022). A third Minions movie is currently in production and set to be released in theaters in 2026.

As for Illumination, the studio’s upcoming film slate includes new installments in its Sing and The Secret Life of Pets franchises as well as a sequel to its 2023 box office hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which is based on the Nintendo video game series of the same name. The movie, rumored to be titled Super Mario World, will delve deeper into the video game franchise’s lore, according to Toad voice actor Keegan-Michael Key. “We’re going to meet some new folks that are old favorites and some folks that I think are really deep cuts, but because of the way the story’s laying itself out right now, those characters are going to be very intriguing,” he teased in October 2024.

Illumination was also recently announced to be partnering with Mattel Studios on a new animated Barbie movie. Unlike past animated movies based on Barbie, this one will receive a theatrical release from Universal. At this time, the movie is not expected to be connected to Greta Gerwig’s live-action Barbie movie, which was released in 2023 to both critical acclaim and commercial success.

Despicable Me 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.

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