Minions are small, yellow pill-shaped creatures which have existed since the beginning of time, evolving fromsingle-celled organisms into beings which exist only to serve history's most despicable masters, but they are very clumsy and accidentally end up killing every boss they work for. They are driven into isolation after firing a cannon atNapoleon while inRussia and start a new life inside a cave, but after many years, the Minions become sad and unmotivated without a boss to serve. This prompts three Minions; named Kevin, Stuart and Bob, to go out on a quest to find a new boss for their brethren to follow.
The three journey in 1968 to New York City and stay at a department store for the night, where they come across a hidden commercial broadcast advertisingVillain-Con, anOrlando convention for all villains. The next day, they hitchhike a ride with the Nelsons, a family of thieves. At the convention, they meet Scarlet Overkill, the world's first femalesupervillain, who unexpectedly hires them and takes them to her home in London. They phone the rest of the Minions to get them to join. Scarlet plans to steal theImperial State Crown fromQueen Elizabeth II, promising to reward the Minions if they succeed, but also threatening to kill them if they fail.
Scarlet's husband Herb supplies them with inventions to aid in the heist, but they are nearly caught while breaking into theTower of London. During the subsequent chase, Bob runs into theSword in the Stone and pulls the sword free to defend himself and his friends, removing the Queen from the throne and making Bob the new King. Enraged that someone else accomplished her dream of stealing the throne, Scarlet confronts Bob, who voluntarily abdicates the throne in her favor. Undeterred, Scarlet imprisons Kevin, Stuart and Bob in a dungeon, where Herb attempts to torture the trio, but they escape with the intention of apologizing to Scarlet at her coronation.
After making their way toWestminster Abbey, Kevin, Stuart and Bob interrupt the coronation by inadvertently dropping a chandelier on Scarlet. Mistaking the accident for an assassination attempt, Scarlet angrily orders the trio's execution and has other villains chase them through the streets of London during a thunderstorm. Stuart and Bob are captured, while Kevin hides in a pub and sees Scarlet on television, who declares that she will kill Stuart and Bob if Kevin does not show up by dawn. With the villains still searching for him, Kevin sneaks into Scarlet's castle to steal weapons and triggers a machine Herb was building, causing him to grow in size into a giant. Kevin tramples through London, rescues his friends and battles Scarlet, just as the other Minions turn up in the city. Scarlet tries to eradicate them by firing a massive missile, but Kevin swallows it. Scarlet and Herb attempt to escape with her rocket dress, only for Kevin to hold onto it and get pulled into the sky. The missile explodes, seemingly killing Kevin, Scarlet and Herb. As the Minions mourn the loss of their leader, Kevin survives after returning to his normal size.
The Queen gets her throne and crown back. She rewards Bob with a tiny crown for his teddy bear Tim, Stuart with an electric guitar, and Kevin with aknighthood. Scarlet and Herb, still alive, steal the crown again, only to be stopped by a youngGru, who fires a freeze ray at them and flees with the crown on a rocket-powered motorcycle. The Minions run after him, deciding he is the boss they were looking for.
Additionally,Steve Carell reprises his role asGru, who appears at the end of the film in his younger form.[10] Other cast members includeKaty Mixon as Tina Nelson, Walter and Madge's thief daughter;[10]Michael Beattie as Walter Nelson Jr., Walter and Madge's thief son[10] (Beattie also voices a VNC announcer);Tara Strong as Binky Nelson, the baby brother of Tina and Walter Jr.;[10]Hiroyuki Sanada as Dumo, asumo fighter villain;[10] and Dave Rosenbaum as Fabrice, Scarlet's personal stylist.[10]
Development onMinions wasgreenlit in July 2012,[11] after writerBrian Lynch recognized the popularity ofDespicable Me Minion Mayhem, asimulator ride.[12]Pierre Coffin became director again with newcomerKyle Balda as the co-director, marking the first film in the franchise whereChris Renaud is not a director. Eric Guillon returned for the film but was not an art director, as he was the character and production designer for the film.
In February 2013,Sandra Bullock joined the cast to voice Scarlet Overkill,[6] withJon Hamm joining two months later as her husband Herb Overkill.[7] Bullock was paid $10 million for her involvement.[13] In March 2015,Allison Janney was cast as Madge Nelson.[9]Pierre Coffin, the film's director, reprised his role as theMinions. This is one of the films in the franchise in which Coffin is the lead actor and the first film whereChris Renaud doesn't serve as a director, but an executive producer.Kyle Balda served as a co-director along with Coffin.Jennifer Saunders was cast to voice Queen Elizabeth II.
The official soundtrack for the film was released on July 10, 2015, by Back Lot Music. The soundtrack also features the film's original music, composed byHeitor Pereira.[14][15]
Bloomberg News estimated thatUniversal Pictures spent $593 million promotingMinions,[16] including $26.1 million on television advertisements;[17] it described the promotion as the "largest and most comprehensive" in the distributor's history.[18] It also featured 850 toy brands,[19] as well as partners includedMcDonald's,Chiquita, andGeneral Mills.[18] In April 2015,Pantone announced the creation of a new official Pantone color, "Minion Yellow", in partnership with Illumination.[20]Titan Comics published a series of comics and graphic novels based on the film in June.[21] As a promotional tie-in,Minions Paradise was released.[22]
Minions debuted at theOdeon Leicester Square in London on June 11, 2015,[23] followed by a premiere on June 27, at theShrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.[24] The film was initially scheduled for release on December 19, 2014,[25] but was postponed to July 10, 2015. This shift was reportedly made in response to Universal's satisfaction with the successful release ofDespicable Me 2 (2013) and desire to exploit fully the merchandising potential ofMinions.[26][27]
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment releasedMinions fordigital download on November 24, 2015, and onBlu-ray andDVD on December 8. Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes; a deleted scene; an interactive world map; short filmsCro Minion,Competition, andBinky Nelson Unpacified; and a trailer ofThe Secret Life of Pets (2016).[28]Minions was the best-selling home-video release of December. Blu-ray accounted for 67 percent of its sales, along with the home-media release ofAnt-Man.[29] By the end of 2015, the physical release had grossed about $95.7million.[30] A4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released in 2017.[31]
Minions grossed $336 million in the United States and Canada and $823.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.159 billion.[4] It was thefifth-highest-grossing film of 2015 and thesecond-highest-grossing animated film of all time.[32][33] On August 28, 2015,Minions passed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, becoming the third animated film to cross that milestone afterToy Story 3 (2010) andFrozen (2013).[34]Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $502 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it second on their list of 2015's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".[3]
In the United States and Canada,Minions was released withThe Gallows andSelf/less on July 10, 2015. It grossed $46 million on its first day,[35] including $6.2 million from Thursday night previews.[36] During its opening weekend, the film grossed $115.2 million across 4,301 theaters, making it the second-highest opening weekend for an animated film, behindShrek the Third (2007).[35] Moreover, it had the largest opening weekend for a prequel, breaking the previous record held byStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).[37] The film would hold the record for having the highest opening weekend for an Illumination film until 2023 whenThe Super Mario Bros. Movie took it.[38] Its second weekend grosses dropped by 57 percent to $50.2 million,[39] and followed by another $22 million the third weekend.[40]Minions completed its theatrical run on December 17, 2015.[41]
Worldwide,Minions debuted in 44 markets on June 18, 2015,[42] and later a total of 66 countries by July 11.[43] The film grossed $12.5 million in its opening weekend from four countries,[44] and in its second,Minions made $37.6 million in 10 markets.[45] Its top international markets were the United Kingdom ($73.1 million), China ($63.47 million), and Germany ($63.46 million).[1]
The film has an approval rating of 55% based on 222 professional reviews on thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 5.8/10. Its critical consensus reads, "The Minions' brightly colored brand of gibberish-fueled insanity stretches to feature length in their self-titledDespicable Me spinoff, with uneven but often hilarious results."[46]Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[47] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[48]
Jesse Hassenger ofThe A.V. Club gave the film a C, saying "Minions has idiosyncratic roots, but it's a franchise play all the way. Finally, even 5-year-olds have their own movie that mechanically cashes in on something they loved when they were younger".[49] Michael O'Sullivan ofThe Washington Post gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "I, too, once enjoyed theMinions, in the small doses that they came in. But the extra-strengthMinions is, for better or for worse, too much of a good thing".[50] Brian Truitt ofUSA Today gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "Brian Lynch's screenplay features a series of amusing sight gags and physical comedy that mostly hits; watching theMinions playPolo while ridingCorgis is an exercise in cuteness".[51] Tom Russo ofThe Boston Globe gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "Impressive as it is that the filmmakers get so much comedic mileage out of their characters' half-intelligible prattling, the conventional dialogue is bafflingly flat".[52]Manohla Dargis ofThe New York Times said, "WhileMinions explores nominally new narrative ground, it folds neatly into a series that now includes two features, various shorts, books, video games, sheet music and a theme park attraction. So, you know, different but also the same".[53]
Tom Long ofThe Detroit News gave the film a B, saying "Minions is every bit as cute as it's supposed to be, a happily empty-headed animated frolic that rarely pauses to take a breath".[54]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "It's not whether this prequel can mint money; that's a given. The questions is: Can the minions carry a movie all by their mischievous mini-selves? 'Fraid not".[55] Kerry Lengel ofThe Arizona Republic gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "Despite the dizzying pace of carefully calibrated incongruities,Minions somehow never generates more than the occasional chuckle".[56]Christopher Orr ofThe Atlantic said, "There's plenty of high-velocity comic inanity on display to keep kids happily diverted. But the movie's major flaw is an extension of its own premise: Search as they may, the minions never find a villain worthy of their subservience".[57] Liam Lacey ofThe Globe and Mail gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "With its episodic stream of slapstick gags,Minions has moments of piquant absurdity, but mostly its shrill-but-cutesy anarchy works as a visual sugar rush for the preschool set".[58]
In the years following its release,Minions has remained an enduringly popular film of theDespicable Me franchise.[78][79][80] It is popular globally,[81][82][83] inspiringInternet memes.[84] The film's headlining trio appeared at the88th Academy Awards in 2016, in which they presentedBest Animated Short Film. During his presentation forBest Picture, English comedianSacha Baron Cohen called the characters "hard-working little yellow people with tiny dongs" in response to the lack of diversity.[85][86][87] Coffin stated in 2024 thatMinions's box-office take made successful through marketing rather than quality, but he expressed displeasure over the final film.[80] That August, Renaud felt thatMinions should not be remade into its live-action adaptation, which was considered to have a different take and could diminish the characters' popularity.[88][89][90]
Minions's success spawned theMinions film series,[91] beginning with its sequelMinions: The Rise of Gru (2022).[92] In the film, an eleven-year-old Gru plans to become a supervillain with the help of his Minions, which leads to a showdown with a malevolent team, the Vicious 6.[93] It achieved similar financial and critical success as the first twoDespicable Me films.[94][95] A thirdMinions film is scheduled to be released in 2026.[96]
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