NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� When Illumination founder and chief executive Chris Meledandri earlier this month received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he wondered how many visitors it will have.
鈥淚n years to come, as people walk down Hollywood Boulevard, they鈥檒l come across my star,鈥� he said to the assembled crowd. 鈥淎nd unless they鈥檙e related to me, they鈥檒l ask: 鈥榃ho the hell was that guy?鈥欌��
Yet at a time of , the unflashy Meledandri has created and shaped one of Hollywood鈥檚 most consistent blockbuster-making operations. Family-friendly movies are , and Illumination is at the forefront of it.
Since Illumination鈥檚 first release, 2010鈥檚 鈥淒espicable Me,鈥� the animation studio has accounted for more than $11 billion in global box office. Its is the sole $1 billion movie of 2026 so far. Illumination鈥檚 next release, which premieres Sunday at the Annecy Film Festival in France, stands a good chance of equaling it.
The Minions 鈥� 鈥� have done a lot to drive that success. But the studio, a division of Universal Pictures, has expanded to include the 鈥淢ario鈥� movies with Nintendo, an upcoming 鈥淏arbie鈥� animated movie with Mattel and earlier franchises like 鈥淪ing鈥� and 鈥淭he Secret Lives of Pets.鈥� If Illumination is synonymous with anything, it鈥檚 good cartoony fun.
鈥淔rom the outset, we really wanted to make films that would be joyous above everything else,鈥� Meledandri said in an interview. 鈥淚 found myself working with filmmakers who appreciated that Looney Tunes style of cartooning integrated into the creation of these animated films today.鈥�
鈥淢inions & Monsters,鈥� which opens in theaters July 1, may be Illumination鈥檚 ultimate goofy romp. In the seventh of the 鈥淒espicable Me鈥� movies and the third 鈥淢inions鈥� standalone feature, the Minions become filmmakers. 鈥淢inions & Monsters鈥� has the gumption to give some of the most chaos-inducing creatures, who have mishandled every diabolical device ever handed to them, a camera.
Set in the 1920s Golden Age of Hollywood, the movie has a lot of fun putting the Minions alongside silent slapstick classics like Charlie Chaplin鈥檚 鈥淢odern Times鈥� and Harold Lloyd鈥檚 鈥淪afety Last!鈥� Jeff Bridges voices a studio head. It’s the Minions’ answer to 鈥淭he Muppet Movie.鈥� James, the most creative Minion, is listed as its director 鈥� at least in a first draft of the end credits.
The Minions go behind the camera
The movie鈥檚 real director, though, is Pierre Coffin, an Illumination veteran who has directed many of its movies and who famously voices the Minions. But Coffin has had a complicated relationship with the Minions ever-expanding world domination, and Meledandri knew he was reluctant to return. But this is an executive who, as a producer, managed to reunite the cast of DreamWorks’ 鈥淪hrek鈥� for
鈥淗e called me one weekend and he said, 鈥橸ou鈥檙e going to say no but I鈥檝e got to ask,鈥� Coffin, speaking from Paris, says. 鈥淗e said: 鈥業t鈥檚 Minions wanting to make a monster movie. They conjure monsters but then that creation turns on them and the Earth.鈥欌��
鈥淗e got me at 鈥楳inions making movies,鈥欌�� adds Coffin. 鈥淔rom that moment, I just had questions.鈥�
The movie, opening two weeks after Pixar鈥檚 will be a new test of just how much of a powerhouse Illumination has become. After a stint running Fox鈥檚 animation division and making the 鈥淚ce Age鈥� films, Meledandri founded the company, relying heavily on a group of artists at a Paris animation company then called Mac Guff. While Illumination is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, much of its movie production takes place in Paris.
With its collaborations now stretching to Japan, via Nintendo, a globalization defines Illumination 鈥� fitting given the international word salad gibberish of the Minions.
鈥淎n objective from day one, when I started the company, was to have the complexion of creative leadership reflect our desire to make films for the entire world, as opposed to being so American-centric,鈥� says Meledandri.
But Meledandri never set out to rival Disney or Pixar. 鈥淭hose goals just felt unrealistically ambitious,鈥� he says. Instead, Meledandri freed filmmakers and animators to make movies about antic antiheroes. He targeted subversive comedy, not poignancy. You鈥檙e likely to laugh at an Illumination movie. Crying? Not so much.
That approach has made Illumination a box-office behemoth. (Universal鈥檚 output deal with Netflix, after the movies first stream on Peacock, also boosts its films’ audience.) But awards love has eluded the company. Illumination has never won an Oscar, a historical fact jokingly nodded to in 鈥淢inions & Monsters.鈥� Only one release (“Despicable Me 2”) has been nominated for best animated feature.
But with its abiding affection for moviemaking, 鈥淢inions & Monsters鈥� could find wider industry support. Even lends his voice to the film.
Making blockbusters on a budget
Regardless, 鈥淢inions & Monsters鈥� is something rare in today鈥檚 movie world: It’s almost certain to be profitable. Since producing the 2000 box-office bomb 鈥淭itan A.E.鈥� at Fox, Meledandri has made fiscal discipline a religion. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 expectation was that I would be fired,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 probably should have been fired.鈥�
While $200 million-plus budgets still drive many blockbusters, have warned that production costs need to be scaled down for leaner times. 鈥淢inions & Monsters鈥� cost a relatively modest $85 million to make. Illumination鈥檚 most expensive movie, 鈥淭he Super Mario Galaxy Movie,鈥� cost a not-extreme $110 million. 鈥淭oy Story 5,鈥� on the other hand, carries a $250 million budget.
鈥淚n 19 years, I cannot remember a single conversation where a director came back and said: We need more money. It鈥檚 just not part of our ethos,鈥� Meledandri says. 鈥淚t may be: How are we going to solve this problem? Or: We can鈥檛 get this done by this date. But it鈥檚 never: We need more money.鈥�
Some in Hollywood see generative AI as a promising new way to keep expenses down, but Meledandri isn鈥檛 sold yet.
鈥淢y main focus right now is the preservation of jobs and at the expense of being the most technologically advanced,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t always feels better to be part of a front of a wave as opposed to a Luddite. But in this case, we鈥檙e not pushing AI into our pipeline.鈥�
鈥淚 do not believe that a sufficient answer is, 鈥榃ell, we鈥檝e had technological advances before and people were worried yet it all was fine and things kept surging forward,鈥欌�� Meledandri continues. 鈥淣one of those other technologies had agency.鈥�
Animation big wigs have often been ubiquitous presences. But neither Jeffrey Katzenberg, of DreamWorks, nor of Pixar, remain at the animation studios they once defined. The 67-year-old Meledandri, who grew up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, is the unlikely heavyweight 鈥� the 鈥渂ig boss鈥� of the Minion empire.
His entry to the movie business first began when a customer of his father’s men’s clothing store hired him as an assistant on 鈥淔ootloose.鈥� His second big break came producing the 1993 Disney hit 鈥淐ool Runnings.鈥� Now he finds himself running a once-underdog animation studio with an almost unblemished track record.
The competition that worries him isn’t Disney or Pixar, though, but short-form content.
鈥淚t鈥檚 got to force us to be more imaginative and more surprising and to reach further than storytelling that could feel safe because it鈥檚 worked before,鈥� says Meledandri. 鈥淚n 鈥楳inions & Monsters,鈥� what Pierre Coffin has done is made a movie that is so wildly imaginative and unexpected that it鈥檚 exactly where I would wish Illumination to be in this moment in time.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
