Latest in Illumination

Illumination/Universal’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru has been moved off of its global release which was previously set for late June in some offshore markets and for July 3 domestically. This is another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic as Illumination’s Mac Guff studio in Paris has been temporarily shuttered in…

EXCLUSIVE: We have learned that Chris Meledandri’s animation studio Illumination has struck an overall writing deal with award-winning playwright and screenwriter Greg Kalleres. Kalleres has a number of projects already in the works. He’s currently writing the feature project The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up based on the…

Illumination knows how to do it, and they’ve done it again with my favorite animated franchise. In fact, I would say The Secret Life of Pets 2 even tops the first one in laughs, heart and gorgeous animation. I am at a loss as to why this outfit doesn’t get the same critical love as a Pixar or DreamWorks Animation as…

Universal and Illumination have set on a title for the sequel to their hit 2015 animated film Minions, itself a spinoff of the Despicable Me franchise. The latest film, now titled Minions: The Rise of Gru, had already set a July 3, 2020, release date. The title suggests the plot could be an origin story of sorts…

The Visual Effects Society has chosen Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri to receive the group’s VES Lifetime Achievement Award for 2019. It will be presented as part of the 17th annual VES Awards on February 5 at the Beverly Hilton. The honor, bestowed by the VES board of directors, “recognizes an outstanding body of…

With Tuesday’s numbers included, Illumination and Universal Pictures' The Grinch steered the sleigh across the half-billion mark worldwide. The split is $270M domestic and $231M at the international box office for $501M global. This is the 6th title from the folks at Chris Meledandri’s animation powerhouse to reach…

5th Writethru, Sunday AM after Friday and Saturday updates: Yesterday, matinees drove Saturday business for the Dr. Seuss yuletide classic to an estimated $27.5M, +47% from Friday, keeping The Grinch on track for a $66M opening, per Universal. That’s the best opening ever for a Christmas theme movie, with The…

Back in 2016, pet owners got a sneak peek at what their precious animals did while their humans were out with The Secret Life of Pets. And plenty of folks were interested in finding out, as the film opened to a massive $104.4 million en route to a $368.4 million domestic gross. It also made more than a half-billion…

Based on Dr Seuss’ classic holiday book, Universal/Illumination’s The Grinch is the story of a big green grump — voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch — who sets out to steal Christmas, only to find his heart touched by little Cindy Lou Who and her selfless yuletide wish. Director Yarrow Cheney, producer Janet Healy and art…

Reality check: Chuck Jones’ holiday classic Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is more than half a century old. Time for a Hollywood feature reboot, right? Yes, but it’s also only 26 minutes long. How to make it killer without just obvious filler? Cast Benedict Cumberbatch as your anti-hero. “Today we will do…

Illumination/Universal's Despicable Me 3 has made the Gru-vy leap past the $1B worldwide box office mark. With Thursday's grosses, the Kyle Balda/Pierre Coffin-helmed pic has taken $741.4M at the international box office and $259.05M domestically. This is the second Universal title to cross the threshold this year…

The sequel to Illumination’s $875M worldwide-grossing animated pic from last summer will continue its tale on June 7, 2019, Universal announced today. On its new date, The Secret Life of Pets 2 will rival Sony’s reboot of Charlie’s Angels and 20th Century Fox’s untitled Marvel release. The pic’s previous release date…