Box office 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. On August 28, 2015,
Minions passed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, becoming the third animated film to cross that milestone after
Toy Story 3 (2010) and
Frozen (2013).
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". In the United States and Canada,
Minions was released with
The Gallows and
Self/less on July 10, 2015. It grossed $46 million on its first day, including $6.2 million from Thursday night previews. 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, behind
Shrek the Third (2007). The film would hold the record for having the highest opening weekend for an Illumination film until 2023 when
The Super Mario Bros. Movie took it. Its second weekend grosses dropped by 57 percent to $50.2 million, and followed by another $22 million the third weekend.
Minions completed its theatrical run on December 17, 2015. Worldwide,
Minions debuted in 44 markets on June 18, 2015, and later a total of 66 countries by July 11. The film grossed $12.5 million in its opening weekend from four countries, and in its second,
Minions made $37.6 million in 10 markets. Its top international markets were the United Kingdom ($73.1 million), China ($63.47 million), and Germany ($63.46 million).
Critical response The film has an approval rating of based on professional reviews on the
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of . Its critical consensus reads, "The Minions' brightly colored brand of gibberish-fueled insanity stretches to feature length in their self-titled
Despicable Me spinoff, with uneven but often hilarious results."
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. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Jesse Hassenger of
The 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". Michael O'Sullivan of
The Washington Post gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "I, too, once enjoyed the
Minions, in the small doses that they came in. But the extra-strength
Minions is, for better or for worse, too much of a good thing". Brian Truitt of
USA 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 the
Minions play
Polo while riding
Corgis is an exercise in cuteness". Tom Russo of
The 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".
Manohla Dargis of
The New York Times said, "While
Minions 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". Tom Long of
The 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".
Peter Travers of
Rolling 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". Kerry Lengel of
The 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".
Christopher Orr of
The 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". Liam Lacey of
The 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". ==Accolades==