The "Despicable Me" spin-off movie proved to be quite profitable for its producers. A few days ago, it has been announced that the hit animated movie, "Minions" has surpassed the $1 billion mark in the global box office.

Yahoo News reports that these wonderful yellow beings had a whopping $115.2 million in the whole North American continent in their first weekend. The original projection of the critics and the movie's producers was that their first weekend in North America would be at $90 to 100 million.

Like Us on Facebook

While the minions were enjoying a smash hit entry, the other movies that were released when 'Minions' was released barely earned well.

The opening salvo of these cute yellow creatures made it the second best opening for animated movies, as reported by the Business Insider. The first largest opening for animated movies is "Shrek the Third" that was released in 2007, earning $121.6 million on the first weekend of its release. 

Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm, the ones who voiced the super villains whom the minions worked for, was quite surprised with the outcome of the movie, saying that they really did not expect such success. The budget of the whole movie was just $74 million. The publicity and promotion for the movie also didn't cost that much, because they were banking on the previous success of the "Despicable Me" movies.

Universal and Illumination Entertainment reported to have a gross of $321.9 in the USA alone, and on the international market, their gross is estimated to be at $682 million. Thus, "Minions" has become the third top animated film to have the highest earnings. This is quite a feat for any animated film with a limited budget.

This achievement is something that Universal Studios could be proud of this year since Jurassic World earned $1.628 and Furious 7 raked in $1.51 billion.

As of the moment, the minions just might have another animated film that will highlight on them alone. 

TagsMinions movie, Despicable Me, minions hit 1 billion mark