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…
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…
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…
Illumination’s Despicable Me series of films has surpassed the Shrek movies to become the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time worldwide. A $21.2M international weekend on Despicable Me 3 has pushed the franchise to a $3.528B global total for Gru and the Minions. That tops the Shrek stable of five pics…
Illumination/Universal’s Despicable Me 3 has one-upped its franchise brethren — and all others — with the biggest opening day ever for an animated film in China. The tale of Gru and Dru bowed today (Friday) with $20.1M in the Middle Kingdom. The Kyle Balda/Pierre Coffin-helmed film has also pushed Chris Meledandri’s…
Illumination/Universal's Despicable Me 3dipped its toe into offshore waters beginning earlier in June and this weekend is expanding widely at the international box office. Adding 46 markets for a total 52 in release, the threequel from directors Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin is seen crossing $112M through tomorrow…
After its setback with The Mummy earlier this month, Universal will get the studio and the overall domestic box office back on track this weekend with Despicable Me 3, the latest in its beloved Illumination Entertainment franchise, which opens at 4,529 venues in the U.S. and Canada.
Unlike last week, when it was Transf…
When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of top movies, it isn't about what a film grosses at the box office. The true tale is told when production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs collide with box office grosses and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV. To get close to that mysteri…
