Illumination Entertainment

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Illumination Entertainment
Type Subsidiary of Universal Studios
Industry Film
Genre Various
Founded 2007
Founder(s) Chris Meledandri
Headquarters Los Angeles, California, United States
Key people Janet Healy
Eddie Egan[1]
Natalie Fischer (COO)[2]
Products Films
Owner(s) Comcast
Employees 35 (2012)[2]
300 (Illumination Mac Guff) (2012)[2]
Parent Universal Studios
Subsidiaries Illumination Mac Guff
Website www.illuminationentertainment.com

Illumination Entertainment is an American film production company, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007. It has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Studios and it is based in Santa Monica, California.[3] The company is best known for its 2010 animated feature Despicable Me, which was the first film by the company. The company is currently working on its sequel, Despicable Me 2 (2013), and on its spin-off Minions (2014).

Contents

History [edit]

Meledandri left his post as President of 20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007 where he supervised or executive produced movies including Ice Age, its sequel The Meltdown, Robots, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!. After leaving he founded Illumination Entertainment. By 2008, a deal was announced positioning Illumination as NBC Universal’s family entertainment arm that would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010. It is co-owned by Universal who exclusively distributes the films, but Illumination retains creative control as an independent production company. During the summer 2011, Illumination acquired the animation department of the French animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff, which animated Despicable Me and Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, and formed Illumination Mac Guff.[4][5][6]

Process [edit]

Meledandri is determined to keep his company adhering to a low-cost model, recognizing that “strict cost controls and hit animated films are not mutually exclusive.”[7] In an industry where movie expenses often exceed $100 million, Illumination’s first two releases were completed with significantly lower budgets, considering Despicable Me’s $69 million budget and the $63 million budget of Hop.[7] One way the company sustains a lean financial model is by employing cost-conscious animation techniques that lower the expenses and render times of its computer graphics.[7]

Current projects [edit]

The studio's first film, 3D CGI feature, Despicable Me, starring Steve Carell was released on July 9, 2010, and was a smash hit, earning $56 million on its opening weekend, and going on to earn more than $250 million in the U.S. and over $540 million worldwide. Illumination's second film was the live action/CGI hybrid Hop, starring Russell Brand and James Marsden. The talking-animal flick opened to a much bigger than expected $37 million, and ended up with close to $110 million domestically and over $180 million worldwide. The latest movie from the studio, an adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, debuted on March 2, 2012 to a huge $70 million opening weekend, and eventually found its way to close to $215 million stateside and over $330 million worldwide.

Illumination is currently in production on the sequel to Despicable Me, which will be released in summer 2013, a spin-off to Despicable Me, titled Minions, scheduled for 2014 and a untitled original film scheduled for 2015 [8]

Other films in pre-production include the animated feature adaptation of Ricky Gervais’ Flanimals books, a 3D stop-motion animated film based on The Addams Family cartoons by Charles Addams, which Tim Burton will direct,[9] a CGI adaptation of the Uglydoll toy franchise, which creators David Horvath and Sun-Min-Kim will executive produce.[10]

In May 2011, Illumination announced that it will be working with Universal Studios to create, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, a 3-D ride that will open at the Universal Studios Florida theme park in 2012.[11] The ride officially opened on July 2, 2012.

Filmography [edit]

Feature films [edit]

Released films

# Title Release Date Budget Gross RT MC
1 Despicable Me 02010-07-09July 9, 2010 $69,000,000 $543,113,985 81% 72
2 Hop 02011-04-01April 1, 2011 $63,000,000 $183,953,723 26% 41
3 Dr. Seuss' The Lorax 02012-03-02March 2, 2012 $70,000,000 $348,840,316 55% 46

Upcoming films

Title Release Date Refs.
Despicable Me 2 02013-07-03July 3, 2013 [12][13]
Minions 02014-12-19December 19, 2014 [14][15]
Untitled film 02015-07-03July 3, 2015 [16][17]

Films in development

Title Refs.
Flanimals [18]
The Addams Family [9]
Curious George [19]
Untitled Cryptozoology Project [20]
Pluto [21]
Uglydolls [10][22]
Gospel for Teens [23]
Dr. Seuss' biopic [24]
Emily the Strange [24]
Woody Woodpecker [25]
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat [26]
Clifford the Big Red Dog [27]
Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase [28]
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! [29]

Short films [edit]

# Title Release Date
1 Home Makeover, Orientation Day, and Banana 02010-12-14December 14, 2010
2 Brad & Gary[30][31][32] 02012-01-012012
2 Phil's Dance Party [33] 02012-03-23March 23, 2012
3 Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem 02012-07-02July 2, 2012
4 Serenade, Wagon-Ho, and Forces of Nature [34] 02012-08-07August 7, 2012

References [edit]

  1. ^ Fleming, Mike (2011-05-15). "Universal Marketing Head Eddie Egan Moving To Top Illumination Post". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2011-06-15. 
  2. ^ a b c Fleming, Mike (August 7, 2012). "Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Names Natalie Fischer COO". Deadline. Retrieved August 12, 2012. 
  3. ^ Michael Fleming (2008-03-05). "Meledandri, Universal team on deals - Entertainment News, Exclusives, Media". Variety. Retrieved 2010-03-26. 
  4. ^ Fleming, Mike (November 14, 2011). "Universal Pictures Buys Paris Animation Unit For Chris Meledandri’s Illumination". Deadline. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 
  5. ^ Juridic informations about Illumination Mac Guff
  6. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (December 12, 2011). "Universal benefit in Mac Guff accord". Variety. Retrieved December 17, 2011. 
  7. ^ a b c Barnes, Brooks (2011-04-03). "For Illumination Entertainment, Animation Meets Economic Reality". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2011-06-15. 
  8. ^ Fleming, Mike (February 11, 2013). "Sandra Bullock To Voice Super-Villain In ‘Minions’ Spinoff For Illumination/Universal". Deadline. Retrieved February 12, 2013. 
  9. ^ a b Mike Fleming (2010-03-18). "Tim Burton's Next 3D Animated Film? Da Da Da Da, Snap Snap: 'The Addams Family'". Deadline. Retrieved 2010-07-10. 
  10. ^ a b Fleming, Mike (2011-05-26). "Chris Meledandri's Illumination To Turn Uglydoll Into Animated Film". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  11. ^ Vary, Adam B. (2011-05-19). "Universal Parks announces new 'Despicable Me' ride, and a major face-lift for 'Spider-Man'". EW.com. Retrieved 2011-06-15. 
  12. ^ Mike Fleming (2010-07-13). "Chris Meledandri's Illumination Game Plan Includes 'Despicable Me' Sequel, 'Minion' Spinoffs, Dr. Seuss, The Addams Family". Deadline. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 
  13. ^ "Universal Dates Savages, Despicable Me 2 and Oblivion". ComingSoon.net. 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2011-06-18. 
  14. ^ Mike Fleming (2012-07-23). "Illumination And Universal Hatch ‘Despicable Me’ Spinoff About The Minions". Deadline. Retrieved 2012-07-23. 
  15. ^ Gregg Kilday (2012-08-21). "Universal Sets Release Date for 'Despicable Me' Spin-Off Project". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-08-21. 
  16. ^ "Untitled Illumination Entertainment 2015 Project". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 14, 2013. 
  17. ^ Shaw, Lucas (February 12, 2013). "Universal Dates Mystery Illumination Movie for 2015". The Wrap. Retrieved February 15, 2013. 
  18. ^ Michael Fleming (2009-04-28). "Gervais' 'Flanimals' heads to bigscreen". Variety. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
  19. ^ Steven Zeitchik (2010-07-30). "With 'Curious George,' Illumination looks to make more animation mischief". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-07-31. 
  20. ^ Mike Fleming (2009-12-04). "Illumination Bets on Black for Ani Pitch". Variety. Retrieved 2010-09-03. 
  21. ^ Mike Fleming (2010-10-20). "Illumination Entertainment And Universal Eye Japanese Manga 'Pluto' For New Pic". Deadline. Retrieved 2010-10-21. 
  22. ^ "Universal Pictures Plans Uglydoll Feature Film". ComingSoon.net. January 7, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2013. 
  23. ^ Fleming, Mike (August 16, 2011). "Universal, Illumination, And Escape Artists To Film Harlem Teen Gospel Story". Deadline. Retrieved August 17, 2011. 
  24. ^ a b Kit, Borys (October 6, 2011). "Johnny Depp to Become Dr. Seuss for Illumination and Universal (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 7, 2011. 
  25. ^ Kit, Borys (November 16, 2011). "Woody Woodpecker Movie in Development at Universal, Illumination (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 17, 2011. 
  26. ^ Fleming, Mike (March 15, 2012). "Dr. Seuss’ ‘The Cat In The Hat’ Get Another Life At Chris Meledandri’s Illumination". Deadline. Retrieved March 15, 2012. 
  27. ^ Kit, Borys (May 8, 2012). "Illumination and Universal Adapting 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 9, 2012. 
  28. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 24, 2012). "Illumination, U acquire 'Lockwood' series". Variety. Retrieved October 25, 2012. 
  29. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 8, 2013). "Universal, Illumination to reboot 'The Grinch'". Variety. Retrieved February 7, 2013. 
  30. ^ "Brad & Gary". Seattle International Film Festival. Retrieved February 3, 2013. 
  31. ^ "Brad & Gary". IMDb. Retrieved February 3, 2013. 
  32. ^ King, Susan (February 2, 2013). "40th Annie Award nominees and winners list". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 3, 2013. 
  33. ^ Katz, Josh (January 9, 2012). "Hop Blu-ray". Blu-ray. Retrieved January 9, 2012. 
  34. ^ "From Universal Studios Home Entertainment: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax". PR Newswire. June 5, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012. 

External links [edit]

Illumination Entertainment
Feature films
Released
Upcoming
Short films
Franchises
See also
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