Tiny yellow “Minions” topped this weekend’s box office, pulling in a reported $115.2 million in North America alone and earning the second-largest opening for an animated film in history.
The Universal Pictures film, which is a prequel spinoff to “Despicable Me,” fell a tad short of the domestic record set in 2007 by another animated film sequel – “Shrek the Third.” That film earned $121.6 million in its opening weekend, according to Variety.
The strong start for “Minions” comes despite some ho-hum reviews for the film, which is the third tied to the Despicable Me franchise. It only earned “mixed to average” reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic, and the user score of 6.4 out of 10 wasn’t much better. The film features the voices of Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock and “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm.
One area where the Minions characters are expected to also be a huge hit – the toy aisle.
Observers have said that Minions are a property that plays well across both genders and multiple age groups, which is helping the figures win key shelf space on shelves this year. It is expected to be one of the better-performing licensed toy properties for 2015.