If there has been one major surprise at the box office this year, it may just be Minions: The Rise of Gru. The film became a quick global sensation, and fans of the little yellow henchmen will soon be able to bring them all home.
This collector's edition of Minions: The Rise of Gru will be available for digital download starting Aug. 30, and will be available to buy on 4K ultra-HD, Blu-ray and DVD on Sep. 2. While the film itself became available for digital download starting on Aug. 2, the upcoming collector's edition will contain a number of special features for superfans of the Minions franchise, with over 60 minutes of bonus content.
This additional content will include two exclusive mini-movies set in the same era as the film, outtakes and bloopers, as well as an animation and drawing lesson from the film's co-director, Brad Abelson. The star of the film, Steve Carell, will also be seen in this animation featurette, describing how the film went from concept art, to storyboards and eventually to a finished product. The bonus content also features descriptions and backgrounds for the film's main characters.
The film itself is a prequel to the Despicable Me franchise, and serves as an origin story for Gru (Carell) as he first dreams of becoming a supervillain. The film chronicles his quest for villainy, while also showing his origins with the Minions (all voiced by Pierre Coffin). Featured in additional roles are the voices of Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless and RZA.
The Minions/Despicable Me property has almost always seen financial success, and Minions: The Rise of Gru was no different. The film has continually surpassed box office expectations since its July 1 theatrical release. It demolished initial projections and raked in $202 million worldwide over its opening weekend. While the extended Fourth of July holiday clearly helped the U.S. box office, the success was not just seen domestically - the film brought in an additional $93.8 million overseas. Despite being out for nearly two months, Minions: The Rise of Gru continues to bring in money, and recently passed $790 million at the global box office.
All in all, this means that it has been a very good year for Universal Pictures. Beyond their success with Minions, the studio also released the highly anticipated Jurassic World: Dominion in June, which has reached almost $1 billion globally. These two films have helped Universal cross the $3 billion threshold in 2022, becoming the first studio of the pandemic era to do so.
Check out the trailer for Minions: The Rise of Gru below: