The Big Picture
- Universal, which distributed Illumination’s Migration, ended 2023 as the most successful studio of the year, thanks to hits like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer.
- Illumination’s animated film Migration has crossed the $100 million mark worldwide, with $54 million domestically and $46 million from overseas markets.
- Migration‘s positive reviews and the holiday season suggest it will continue to generate revenue, potentially spawning sequels and adding to Illumination’s successful track record.
Universal ended 2023 as the most successful studio of the year for the first time since 2015. While the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer probably had a lot to do with that, smaller hits such as Trolls Band Together and the more recent Migration certainly did their bit. Taking over from the third Trolls movie, which is on the verge of passing $200 million worldwide, the latest animated film from Illumination passed its own box office milestone this weekend.
After three weeks of release globally — Migration made its domestic debut a week late — the film has passed the coveted $100 million mark worldwide. It finished at the number three spot at the extended New Year’s box office, grossing $17 million domestically over the traditional three-day weekend. This actually marked a nearly 40% increase from its opening weekend haul of $12 million. Migration has now grossed over $54 million domestically and $46 million from overseas markets, for a cumulative global haul of $100 million.
And the film’s journey at the box office has only just begun. Movies released during the holiday period typically have long legs, and it has been observed in the post-pandemic era that movies aimed at family audiences tend to keep generating revenue over weeks, especially if they’re well-made. Elemental, for instance, reported one of the worst openings in Pixar history, but ended its run with nearly $500 million worldwide. At the same time last year, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish opened to similar numbers as Migration, but also ended up grossing almost $500 million globally.
‘Migration’ Marks Yet Another Win for Illumination
Illumination’s track record has been impeccable, for the most part. The animation studio behind hit franchises such as Despicable Me and Sing has also released blockbusters such as The Secret Life of the Pets (nearly $900 million worldwide) and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which remains the second-biggest film of 2023, with over $1.3 billion worldwide. Illumination is now theoretically sitting on as many as five franchises, assuming Migration spawns its own sequels.
Reviews for the film have been mostly positive. Migration currently sits at a “fresh” 72% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Incidentally, it was also produced on a reported budget of $72 million, which falls in an increasingly common range for animation films these days. Barring the odd behemoth — Disney is still spending north of $150 million on its movies — most studios are keeping budgets for animated films in check, which comes with its own set of problems for crews. Directed by Benjamin Renner, co-directed by Guylo Homsy, and written by Mike White, Migration features the voices of Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, and Danny DeVito. You can watch the film in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Migration
A family of ducks try to convince their overprotective father to go on the vacation of a lifetime.
- Release Date
- December 22, 2023
- Director
- Benjamin Renner , Guylo Homsy
