Never underestimate the power of despicable cuteness. Despicable Me's fifth overall entry, and the second follow-up to 2015's spin-off, Minions, has been a huge hit. In fact, if it keeps up its current trajectory, it could end up being just the third film in two years to gross over a billion at the global box office.

According to Deadline, Minions: The Rise of Gru is expected to reach a four-day total gross of $129.2 million with a global opening weekend total of around $196.6 million. This will be higher than the studio's original projections of $150 million. It will also be the highest take for an Illumination Entertainment animated movie in its opening weekend. Not only that, but the Minions sequel looks like it will set a new four-day holiday weekend record as well.

As America celebrates Independence Day on Monday, July 4, moviegoers have at least three days without work to watch Minions: The Rise of Gru. Experts are expecting follow-up to beat the previous record-holder, 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

This is all good news for Minions: The Rise of Gru. The Transformers threequel made $1.124 billion in total at the global box office. Although that was over a decade ago, the success of The Rise of Gru does suggest that it can maintain its solid run for at least the next couple of weeks. If that happens, Illumination Entertainment will have its third-straight billion-dollar outing (2013's Despicable Me 2 couldn't quite make the cut at just $970 million).

Furthermore, The Rise of Gru's box office take is a good sign overall. The animated movie's record-breaking numbers come just weeks after Top Gun: Maverick topped the charts and pulled in over a billion. Interestingly enough, this year's biggest films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Batman, have enjoyed encouraging box office numbers as well.

When you consider the healthy totals posted by films like Scream, Jackass: Forever, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog 2, theaters appear to have recovered from the pandemic.

We'll surely keep an eye out for Minions: The Rise of Gru in the next few weeks as it takes on Thor: Love and Thunder from July 6 onwards. Fingers crossed, we'll see both films cross the billion-dollar mark, signifying that the movie industry is in a healthy state.