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A week after we all binged the Shrek franchise, Netflix sees a surge in the Despicable Me and Minions series hit the charts
If we had a nickel for every time an animated film franchise with a long-awaited entry out in 2026 dominated the Netflix charts in 2025, we'd have two nickels.
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Last week, we saw the rise of Shrek as the ogre dominated the Netflix charts as we all wait for the fifth movie to come out next year. Turns out, that isn’t the only animated movie franchise we are binging; this week sees Despicable Me become one of the most-watched film series on Netflix. Between the mainline films and the Minions spinoff, Despicable Me currently occupies four of the top ten spots on the Netflix chart.
It is never entirely surprising to see the Despicable Me franchise popular on Netflix. Despicable Me 2 has spent a total of 17 weeks in the top ten on the streamer’s charts, Despicable Me has only spent 9 weeks in the top ten while Despicable Me 3 has six weeks of streaming success under its belt.
The most conspicuous absence from the Netflix charts this week is Minions 2: The Rise of Gru, which has featured on them in the past but doesn’t seem to be part of the current rewatch. Maybe people are too excited for Minions 3 to come out to bother with another forgettable prequel.
Is all this renewed hype going to be worth it when Minions 3 comes out? Despicable Me 4, the most recent film in the franchise, was generally considered underwhelming compared to the rest of the franchise, so Minions 3 feels like a last chance for Illumination to salvage the unstoppable pop culture force that the Despicable Me series has become. We won’t find out until it comes out on July 1, 2026.
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