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All of that market awareness paid off three years later in a most unexpected fashion. There was a summer sequel that had been anticipated for many years now. It did not have the word Despicable in the title, either. Instead, Monsters, Inc.’s lead characters, James “Sulley” Sullivan and Mike Wazowski had not been seen in theaters since 2001. For the body of a decade, fans wistfully hoped for the return of the world’s best Scarers.

In June of 2013, those wishes finally came true with the release of Monsters University, a prequel to one of Pixar’s most popular releases. On opening weekend, $82.4 million worth of consumers rewarded Disney for their generosity in making another Monsters film. It was the second best debut ever for a Pixar title. Monsters University would go on to earn $268.5 million domestically, the sixth best tally for a 2013 release. Somehow, this total would prove to be only the third best take for any 2013 animated film. And it was not a large enough total to best Illumination Entertainment’s first theatrical sequel and fourth release overall. David kicked Goliath’s ass in a big, bad way.

The surprises started on opening weekend. Despicable Me had debuted with a respectable $21.3 million on its way to the afore-mentioned $56.4 million weekend. Monsters University garnered $30.5 million of its $82.4 million on its first Friday. Despicable Me 2 began with $35 million. On a Wednesday.

Yes, the Wednesday was July 3rd so there was a bit of holiday inflation involved. Still, it earned a whopping $58.8 million prior to its first weekend. On that Friday, it effectively matched its more storied counterpart, Monsters University, with $30.5 million. It wound up grossing $84.2 million over the weekend, thereby totaling $143.1 million after five days in release. The original Despicable Me needed 15 days to reach the same amount of domestic revenue. Monsters University required nine days.

Despite being the unheralded underdog, Despicable Me 2 absolutely eviscerated Monsters University at the box office, ultimately winning by almost exactly $100 million. In the process, the Despicable Me brand grew by 46% in North America, a Shrek to Shrek 2 type of increase in popularity. And the advances are even more dramatic in terms of global revenue. Despicable Me 2 was the second most popular movie in the world in 2013, grossing $921 million. That amount reflects a gain of $375 million from the first movie as well as a victory of $175 million over Monsters University.

In a fashion, the Despicable Me franchise established itself as the new Shrek in 2013. That DreamWorks Animation franchise was absolutely dominant with its second entry. Even 10 years later, Shrek 2 still stands as one of the 30 biggest blockbusters in terms of global revenue. In fact, Despicable Me 2 only recently surpassed its total of $920 million. The Shrek brand grew $445 million from the original film to the sequel, a feat that has only been matched (and surpassed) by The Dark Knight.

Sequels are supposed to do better than the original movies on opening weekend and then try to reach 70-80% of the first title’s final box office take. Any time the second movie does better than the first, it is an impressive feat. If the second movie absolutely torpedoes the original, that is a sign of potent franchise potential. Shrek has earned $3.5 billion thus far. Despicable Me is approaching $1.5 billion after only two films. That is newsworthy enough on its own.

Now consider that the third movie in the Despicable Me franchise already has a title. It is Minions. Just imagine how much money that movie is going to make.

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