A scene from “Minions & Monsters.”
Universal Pictures/Illumination Entertainment
Minions & Monsters is new in theaters, and all indications so far are that it’s going to be another monster hit for the Despicable Me franchise but the success of the film likely won’t change the way Universal Pictures releases the film on streaming.
The seventh movie in the Despicable Me franchise, Minions & Monsters opened in theaters nationwide on July 1. Directed by Pierre Coffin, the film tracks the origin story of the yellow, pill-shaped henchmen of Gru long before they met the Despicable Me evil genius.
After working for other bad guys over the years, the Minions (all voiced by Coffin) accidentally end up in Hollywood in the 1920s as Tinseltown is in its silent movie heyday. Once talkies came into play, though, the Minions — who can only communicate with each other in nonsensical gibberish — quickly find themselves out of work.
Looking for a way back onto the big screen, two Minions, James and Henry, begin making a monster movie because a mystical book they possess helps bring the scariest of creatures to life. However, when the monsters become bent on world domination, the Minions must band together to defeat the creations gone awry.
Rated PG, Minions & Monsters also stars the voices of Allison Janney, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Trey Parker, Bobby Moynihan, Phil LaMarr, Zoey Deutsch, Christoph Waltz and George Lucas.
Under Universal Pictures’ old streaming strategy, films that earned under $50 million in their first couple of weeks of release could be released on digital streaming via premium video on demand after 17 days in theaters, while films that earned over $50 million could debut on PVOD after 30 days in release.
In March, however, the studio mandated that all of its films must play in theaters for a minimum of five weekends before premiering on PVOD, which is generally 31 to 32 days, depending on the length of the month it begins playing in. That theatrical-to-PVOD window will increase to seven weekends — or about 45 days — in 2027.
Since March, Universal’s films Reminders of Him and You, Me & Tuscany both played in theaters five weekends before arriving on PVOD. However, the studio’s blockbuster hit The Super Mario Galaxy Movie had its theatrical-to-PVOD window extended and was released on digital streaming after seven weekends. And while Minions & Monsters is poised to achieve a Super Mario-level of success — the past five films have earned anywhere between $937 million and $1.15 billion worldwide — Universal is more likely to begin offering the latest film on PVOD after five weekends in theaters instead of seven.
The reasoning for the five-weekend strategy is relatively simple. The last two films in the franchise — 2024’s Despicable Me 4 and 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru — both played five weekends in theaters before pivoting to PVOD. Like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, both films were extremely popular among moviegoers, with Despicable Me 4 earning $986.7 million at the worldwide box office and Minions: The Rise of Gru earning $937.7 million globally in 2022 (an especially remarkable amount considering the COVID-19 pandemic was still harming the theater business).
As such, Minions & Monsters is looking at an Aug. 4 debut on PVOD, since new digital streaming releases typically come out on Tuesdays. Should Universal switch things up and extend the theatrical-to-PVOD window to seven weekends, then the film should arrive on PVOD no later than Aug. 18.
How Soon Will ‘Minions & Monsters’ Begin Streaming on Peacock?
Universal typically has theatrical-to-streaming video on demand window of about 118 days (give or take day or two) or nearly 18 weeks from the day the studio’s films open in theaters and the day they arrive on Peacock, which is the NBC Universal’s subscription service.
For example, Reminders of Him is scheduled to arrive on Peacock on Friday, July 10, nearly 18 weekends after the film was released in theaters on March 13. Likewise, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is set to arrive on Peacock on July 30, nearly 18 weekends after its theatrical premiere on April 1.
Should Minions & Monsters follow the same SVOD release pattern, then viewers can expect the film to arrive on Peacock on Oct. 30, just in time for Halloween.
Right now, the only way you can see Minions & Monsters is in theaters, so check your local listings for showtimes.