While Universal’s Despicable Me 4 is certainly going to give some tough competition to Inside Out 2 this weekend, that’s just one way of looking at it. The fourth installment in the blockbuster franchise is also going to face competition from Pixar’s holdover hit, which has been on a record-breaking spree across the world for the last three weeks. Despicable Me 4opened mid-week in domestic theaters, forgoing Tuesday previews entirely. The movie has, however, been playing for more than a week in a handful of overseas markets, where it has grossed $25 million already.

According to Deadline, Despicable Me 4grossed $28 million on its first day of domestic release, and is projected to generate around $120 million across its extended five-day debut, which coincides with the lucrative Fourth of July holiday. The film’s Friday-Sunday haul is expected to be around $70 million. By comparison, Inside Out 2 grossed $154 million in its traditional three-day debut, the second-biggest in the history of animated films. But despite how massively successful that film has been — Inside Out 2 recently passed the $1 billion mark globally — the Despicable Me franchise has proven to be much bigger.

The first Despicable Me film was released in 2010; it concluded its global run with just under $550 million. Despicable Me 2 was released in 2013, generating $970 million globally. Despicable Me 3 debuted in 2017, and grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Two spin-off films — Minions, and Minions: The Rise of Gru — were released in 2015 and 2022, grossing $1.1 billion and $930 million worldwide, respectively. The Despicable Me franchise has grossed a combined total of $1.5 billion domestically and $4.6 billion worldwide, almost single-handedly establishing Illumination Entertainment as an animation house to be reckoned with.

The Minions Are Going to Make Things Stressful for 'Inside Out 2' this Weekend

Critical to these films’ success, and their routine ability to defy mixed reviews, are the restrained budgets. Before it became an industry norm, Illumination was producing these films for less than $100 million each. The first Despicable Me cost under $70 million, while the $1.1 billion-grossing Minions movie was made on a reported budget of $74 million. By comparison, Inside Out 2 was produced on a reported budget of $200 million, which is standard for Pixar.

The Despicable Me franchise’s best-reviewed film remains the first one, with a “fresh” 80% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Somewhat disappointingly, Despicable Me 4is currently the worst-rated film of the franchise, with an RT score of 54%. In her review, Collider’s Tania Hussain said that the “fourth installment delivers a delightful mix of villainy and family dynamics that fans have come to love.” The Despicable Me movies follow the misadventures of the lapsed super-villain Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, but the highlight of these films has always been his “minions,” who’ve captured the imagination of young children like few other pop-culture characters. You can watch Despicable Me 4 in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.