Illumination

Illumination (formerly known as Illumination Entertainment) is an American film and animation studio founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007 and owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. Meledandri produces the movies while Universal finances and distributes all the films. The studio is best known for the Despicable Me film series and has also produced the films The Secret Life of Pets, Sing and Esqua.

Illumination has produced 11 feature films, with its latest release being Esqua, with an average gross of $695.4 million per film. The studio's highest-grossing films are Minions (2015), which has grossed $1.159 billion worldwide, Despicable Me 3 (2017), $1.034 billion and Despicable Me 2 (2013), $970.8 million. All three are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, and 7 of their films are among the 50 highest-grossing animated films, with Minions being the fifth all-time highest.

Illumination is currently managed by Chris Meledandri (Chief Executive Officer) and Keith Feldman (Chief Operating Officer), under the direction of David Stainton and Michael Wildshill who also oversee Universal Animation.

History
Meledandri left his post as President of 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios in early 2007, where he had supervised or executive produced films including Ice Age (2002), its sequel Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Robots (2005), and Horton Hears a Who! (2008). After leaving, he founded Illumination Entertainment. By 2008, a deal was announced positioning Illumination as NBCUniversal’s family entertainment arm within its feature animation group (alongside Universal Animation Studios) would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010, with Universal Animation founder Michael Wildshill heading Illumination as president of animation and production. Like Universal Animation, Illumination retains creative control and Universal exclusively distributes the films.

To maintain the separation of Illumination and Universal Animation despite their now common ownership and management, Wildshill "drew a hard line" that each studio was solely responsible for its own projects and would not be allowed to borrow personnel from or lend tasks out to the other. Wildshill said that he and the staff "make sure the studios are quite distinct from each other. We don’t want them to merge; that would definitely be the wrong approach. Each should have its own personality." During summer 2011, Illumination acquired the animation department of the French animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff, which animated Despicable Me (2010) and The Lorax (2012), and formed Illumination Mac Guff.

Meledandri prefers to keep Illumination adhering to a low-cost model, recognizing that "strict cost controls and hit animated films are not mutually exclusive". In an industry where film expenses often exceed $100 million, Illumination's first two releases were completed with significantly lower budgets, considering Despicable Me ' s $69 million budget and Hop ' s $63 million budget. One way the company sustains a lean financial model is by employing cost-conscious animation techniques that lower the expenses and render times of its computer graphics.

In September 2012, Universal named former Walt Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider the new president of Universal Animation and Illumination; however, in January 2013, Schneider resigned for personal reasons. In September 2013, Universal named David Stainton, another former Disney Animation president, as the president of the Universal Animation and Illumination divisions.

On August 22, 2016, NBCUniversal acquired competing studio DreamWorks Animation, appointing Meledandri to oversee both studios.

On January 11, 2017, Universal announced that Illumination (including Illumination Mac Guff) would be integrated as an unit within the Universal Animation Studios, with Michael Wildshill and David Stainton retaining their positions as the heads and presidents of the studio, which would now operate as a label of Universal Animation Studios.

Projects
The studio's first film Despicable Me, starring Steve Carell, was released on July 9, 2010, and was a smash hit, earning $56 million on its opening weekend and going on to earn $543 million worldwide. Illumination's second film was the live-action/CGI hybrid Hop (2011), starring Russell Brand and James Marsden. The film opened to a much bigger than expected $37 million opening and ended up with $108 million domestically and $183 million worldwide. In 2012, an adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax debuted, earning $70 million on its opening weekend, and eventually found its way to $214 million stateside and $348 million worldwide. The studio's first sequel Despicable Me 2 opened in the United States on July 3, 2013, earning worldwide over $964 million, becoming the second highest-grossing 2013 animated film and breaking a record as the most profitable Universal Studios film in its 100-year history. The Despicable Me spin-off Minions was released on July 10, 2015, and grossed over $1 billion worldwide.

The Secret Life of Pets was released on July 8, 2016. Directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney, the film would earn $104 million in its opening weekend, $368 million stateside, and $875 million worldwide. Sing, a comedy written and directed by Garth Jennings, was released on December 21, 2016. It was the first movie for the studio to have a Christmas release. The film would earn $56 million in its first 5 days, grossing $270 million stateside and $634 million worldwide. It also holds the record for the highest-grossing film not to ever be at #1 in its run. Despicable Me 3 was released on June 30, 2017, and became the 2nd film to earn $1 billion for the studio, and set a record for the highest theatre count ever with 4,536 theatres in its 2nd week. Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, Illumination's second film based on a Dr. Seuss book, was released on November 9, 2018, and is directed by Peter Candeland and Yarrow Cheney from a screenplay by Michael LeSieur. The Secret Life of Pets 2, the sequel to 2016's The Secret Life of Pets, was released on June 7, 2019. Esqua, an original film directed by Michael Wildshill and Colin Stimpson, was released on March 20, 2020.

On May 19, 2011, Illumination announced that it would be working with Universal Studios to create Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, a 3-D ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, Hollywood, and Osaka. The ride officially opened on July 2, 2012, in Orlando, Hollywood on April 12, 2014, and Osaka on April 21, 2017.

Upcoming projects
Future projects include Minions: The Rise of Gru set for July 2, 2021, Sing 2 set for December 22, 2021, and an animated film based on the Mario franchise with a co-production with Nintendo set for July 1, 2022. After that, release dates have been set aside for two more films whose titles have not been announced: June 30, 2023 and June 7, 2024. Other films in development include Despicable Me 4. In January 2018, then-Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima stated that, if plans go smoothly, a Mario movie could happen by 2020. On January 31, 2018, Nintendo announced during a fiscal meeting that they are partnering with Illumination on a movie starring Mario, which will be co-produced by Chris Meledandri and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. On November 6, 2018, Illumination announced that the Mario film could be released by 2022. Also, Illumination is working with frequent collaborator and musician Pharrell Williams on an original animated film that will be "made from scratch".

Feature films

 * Further information: List of Illumination films

Trivia

 * The Minions are Illumination's mascots.
 * Despicable Me is popular for using the theme song for the 1968 MGM movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and the opening theme for the original 1967 Columbia Pictures version of Casino Royale.
 * Illumination has not yet made a G-rated production, as every one of its feature films so far has been rated PG by the MPAA (as of the short film Mower Minions).
 * Starting with Despicable Me 3, the company is referred to as Illumination in their logo and marketing.