The latest movie in the popular Despicable Me film franchise enjoyed a strong second weekend at cinemas worldwide.

The Despicable Me film franchise is enjoying continued success with the latest movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru, drawing in the crowds to cinemas worldwide.

The animated comedy, which sees Gru’s character voiced by Steve Carrell and is is the fifth entry in the Despicable Me film franchise, had a strong second weekend at the box office. It opened with record-breaking takings in the US on 4th July weekend and continues to grow steadily, becoming the first animated film to rival Disney.

Minions: The Rise of Gru explores the origin story of young Gru and his Minions, giving the audience a first-hand look at how they became the world’s most despicable team.  Packed full of Illumination’s signature subversive humour and over-the-top action, the movie also stars Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, Michelle Yeoh and Julie Andrews.

Minions, the lovable yellow companions to Gru, were first introduced to audiences in 2010 with the release of the original Despicable Me film, and became instantly popular. Since then, there have been two additional sequels and spin-offs centering around the Minions themselves and, as a result, the franchise has been highly lucrative for Illumination, with the previous Minions film earning over $1b at the box office back in 2015. In general, the Despicable Me franchise has seen a trend of each new release earning higher than the previous movie.

Universal Brand Development (UBD) pulled out all the stops to support the new feature film with global toy partners Mattel and the Lego Group. Toys from the popular franchise also feature new look action figures, construction sets, electronics, plush, collectibles and play sets, with other partners including Topps, Asmodee, Ravensburger, Clementoni, Posh Paws, Danilo and Boxine.