When a franchise is firing on all cylinders, it is often a no-brainer for production companies to give the green light to an entire series of films as opposed to waiting for specific box office figures. We have seen in recent years that the likes of the Star Wars franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have had no issues with confirming several years' worth of upcoming features in the knowledge that enough will be a financial success. One such franchise, although perhaps not as world-dominating as the other two we mentioned, is Despicable Me. Debuting back in 2010 and created by Sergio Pablos, Despicable Me instantly took a worldwide audience by storm, with the initial response to the first movie declaring the birth of a fantastic animated series with heaps of potential. So, when the sequel Despicable Me 2 came out and defied all box office expectations, fans and critics knew just how much of a powerhouse this new franchise was going to be. Gru and, in particular, the Minions were so engaging and funny that they almost transcended the film form and became their own cultural phenomenon, with the Minions themselves having already spawned two spin-off movies, the first of which, Minions, made over $1 billion at the box office.