Universal Chief Reflects on ‘Minions & Monsters’ Box Office Drop: ‘Perhaps the Old Hollywood Story Was a Little Over Their Heads’

It’s a good time to be Universal. “The Odyssey” and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” cleared $1 billion. “Obsession” became the surprise hit of the year. “Michael” was a global success, and the studio’s worldwide grosses in 2026 have already cleared $5 billion. But one film that was expected to be one of the biggest hits of the summer and instead was only a decent theatrical success was Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters,” the seventh overall film in the French studio’s “Despicable Me” franchise. While still grossing $523 million worldwide, that was 44% down from the 2022 film “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which made $940 million. For a decade and a half, “Despicable Me” and “Minions” have been among the most reliable moneymakers in animation. So, what happened? Donna Langley, NBCUniversal chairman, acknowledged that the film’s many references to the silent film era of Hollywood, which led cinephile critics to give it the best reviews in the series, didn’t resonate with the kids that make up the core audience. “Perhaps for kids that kind of inside baseball, old Hollywood story was a little over their heads. Perhaps it didn’t appeal to them in quite the same way,” Langley said at Bloomberg Screentime, while also acknowledging that she was “proud” of the reviews that Pierre Coffin’s film got. When “Minions: The Rise of Gru” came out, it got a boost from Gen Z moviegoers who turned the film into a meme with the “Gentleminions” trend, with young men wearing suits to see the slapstick franchise they grew up watching. Langley said that Universal knew they wouldn’t get that meme again with “Minions & Monsters,” but had greenlit the film with confidence that Gen Z would still show up. “We miscalculated that for sure. It wouldn’t have made a difference as to whether we’d have greenlit the movie or not, but perhaps in terms of our planning, we maybe would have thought a bit differently,” she said. “But I think the sort of easy answer is that we’re quite mature in the franchise. Minions have been around now for 17 years. We didn’t have a long gap in between the films. There was some scheduling, and so we actually moved that one up. So perhaps another year would have helped us create some anticipation.” Langley was also asked about Hollywood’s struggles with original animation, as only animated sequels and IP have cleared the $500 million mark at the global box office since the pandemic. Universal experienced these struggles this past weekend with DreamWorks’ “Forgotten Island,” which crashed with a $13 million domestic opening against an $80 million budget despite excellent critical and audience reception. “How we adjust our strategy on [original animation] is that they have to go through a higher bar of theatricality, and the price point has to anticipate that the numbers are just not going to be as high as they once were,” Langley said. “We have to try and be two head steps ahead of the of the audience taste and where it’s going. Or if we’re not, you know, we have to be very thoughtful and honest with ourselves about why things are not working as well, you know, and shift up the strategy.”