Illumination’s Next Film Could Be Even Bigger Than The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Summary

• The Super Mario Bros. Movie became the highest-grossing animated film of 2023, earning over $1.3 billion at the box office.
• Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise has surpassed Shrek to become the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time.
• Despicable Me 4 has the potential to rival the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and may even outperform it at the box office.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a massive hit for Illumination and became the highest-grossing animated film of 2023, but the studio’s next project could rival its success. Super Mario may be a globally recognized IP, but Illumination’s animated Mario movie still exceeded all expectations. The studio’s $100 million investment paid off as The Super Mario Bros. Movie profited at the box office, grossing over $1.3 billion. Not only did this cement the film as 2023’s biggest animated movie, but it also became the second highest-grossing animated movie of all time, proving just how well the project performed.

Competing with this success seems difficult, and while Illumination’s best shot would seemingly be a Mario sequel, they have another project releasing in 2024 that could be just as competitive. Mario may be their next big franchise, but one of Illumination’s own creations has the potential to repeat or even surpass the big expectations set by The Super Mario Bros. Movie. With the studio’s most reliable franchise set to have yet another installment in 2024, Illumination may produce $1 billion box office movies in back-to-back years, highlighting that they are one of the top animation studios around.

Despicable Me 4 Could Outperform The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Box Office

Despicable Me’s Previous Box Office Triumphs Suggest It Could Compete With The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Despicable Me 4 is Illuminations next big project, and it has the potential to outperform The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The Despicable Me 4 cast will feature the franchise’s key characters alongside new additions and will be the first installment of the main films since 2017. There have been two spinoff films, the latest of which arrived in 2022, but all the movies associated with the franchise have performed incredibly well. Outside the debut film, all the Despicable Me movies have made around $1 billion, with two films falling just under the bracket, and two exceeding it.

With the series clearly reliable, it is possible that Despicable Me 4 could rival Mario’s box office. Minions (2015) remains the highest-grossing movie in the franchise, but each main movie has made more than the last, with Despicable Me 3 grossing $1.035 billion. This is still over $300 million less than The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but the main characters’ seven-year absence may build more intrigue. With the franchise continuing to grow in popularity, Despicable Me 4 looks like it will be the highest-grossing movie in the series and could come close to replicating the Mario movie’s success.

Despicable Me 4 is scheduled to be released on July 3, 2024.

Why The Despicable Me Franchise Is So Important To Illumination

Despicable Me Is Illumination’s Most Identifiable Franchise

There is no doubt Despicable Me has become crucial to Illumination’s success, and it has become their flagship franchise. While The Super Mario Bros. Movie may have set records, Despicable Me has a record of its own that will be tough to beat. After the success of the latest Minions spinoff, Despicable Me has become the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time, surpassing Shrek. With Despicable Me 4 coming this year, the franchise will build on this record, potentially adding over $1 billion to its total. Clearly these movies are marketable, and none of them have flopped financially.

This has led to Despicable Me becoming Illumination’s biggest IP. The Minions have become the studio’s mascots, and there is plenty of money to be made off merchandise as well. While the likes of Sing and The Secret Life of Pets have performed well and found their own audience, they simply haven’t been able to compete with Despicable Me. Super Mario will be a huge IP going forward, but Despicable Me is even more crucial and has allowed the studio to flourish. Despicable Me 4 will only add to Illumination’s success and continue to be their most important franchise.