Can Hollywood Make Old Franchises New Again?

despicable me 4
Like Inside Out, Despicable Me 4 has been a colossal hit partially because of nostalgia for the original. Photo: Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Scott Mendelson
July 9, 2024

Perhaps the most revealing statistic from Despicable Me 4’s strong holiday weekend domestic debut ($75 million Fri-Sun and $122 million Wed-Sun) is how much the movie lured younger demographics: A whopping 74 percent of the audience was under age 35. Yes, obviously, this is a kids’ movie, but the heightened percentage suggests that young adults were also reconnecting with Gru, the minions, the Pharrell soundtrack, and characters of their own youths. This continues a pattern for most of the year’s big box office successes: Out of generational nostalgia, young audiences are flocking to franchises that were birthed during the 2010s.