This weekend, the international box office was bustling, highlighted by the expansion of Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 into an additional 52 overseas markets and the continued success of Pixar’s Inside Out 2, which has now amassed US$1.22 billion globally, securing its position as the fifth highest-grossing animated film worldwide.
Despicable Me 4 made a splash in the global market, bringing its total earnings to US$230 million, with US$107 million globally from this weekend alone. The film launched in key new markets including Mexico, where it earned US$12.6 million; Brazil, with US$5.9 million; and Spain, contributing US$5.7 million.
The film excelled across 73 markets, with 18 of them recording the franchise’s biggest openings to date, bringing the tally to 24 such markets overall. Standouts included Indonesia and the Netherlands, where Despicable Me 4 surpassed previous franchise instalments. In the Netherlands, it gathered US$2.6 million over six days, showing every day as the leading film.
Concurrently, Inside Out 2 has become a historical phenomenon, especially in Mexico, where it’s now the biggest movie ever, with earnings of US$90.2 million. Over the weekend, it pulled in US$78.3 million across 45 key overseas markets, showing impressive retention with a modest 31% drop from the previous week. It remains the number-one film in major markets such as Brazil with US$55.3 million; the UK with US$50.3 million; Korea with US$48.3 million; and Italy with US$39.6 million, which are among the top contributors to Inside Out 2‘s overseas success.
Inside Out 2 continues to set records, recently surpassing the lifetime international grosses of animated heavyweights like Incredibles 2 (US$635 million), Toy Story 4 (US$640 million), and Toy Story 3 (US$652 million). This weekend, it became the second-biggest film of all time across Latin America, trailing only behind Avengers: Endgame.
As Despicable Me 4 gears up for launches in other significant markets like France, Germany, China, the UK, Japan, Korea, and Italy, expectations are high for its continued box office domination. The animated film landscape demonstrates robust vitality, with Despicable Me 4 and Inside Out 2 leading the charge, proving the enduring appeal and profitability of family-friendly animated films.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, games, and comics — you name it. When she’s not reading or geeking out about the latest shows on Netflix, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of meeting her idols.
