The mischievous yellow monsters from "Despicable Me" and its sequel get their own film and, thanks to clever timing, look ready to make the most of box office schedules too.
"Minions" isn't the franchise's first spin-off, but the biggest and the only one so far to warrant full feature length treatment.
It'll also be Pierre Coffin's third time in charge and sixth stint as the Minions' voice artist, with the adventurous Kevin, Stuart and Bob sent to find a worthy villain to command their leaderless brethren.
That quest sends the fortunate three off to New York, then Miami, before ending up in London as Scarlet Overkill (played by Sandra Bullock) looks to become queen of the Empire.
By the time "Minions" makes its July 10 homeland debut in the US – along with launches the same week in France, Hong Kong, Russia, India and beyond – "Minions" will have already debuted across much of Europe, Oceania and parts of Southeast Asia.
Positive reviews have followed those early releases, though "Minions" will have to avoid a clash with Disney animation "Inside Out".
The colourful exploration of an 11-year-old's emotional ups and downs released June 19 and grossed US$123 million (RM465.12 million) in its first week, making it the second biggest animated feature of 2015 behind "Home" – and that was without having yet released in some major European and Southeast Asian territories.
But "Minions" is arguably the biggest new family animation for a long while, and in those terms reaching an "Inside Out" level of professional and audience accolade might not matter so much.
The well-reviewed "Shaun the Sheep Movie" is not making its US bow until August 7 – it saw action elsewhere during February, March and April – and then a new voiceover treatment for foosball adventure "Underdogs" comes around August 14.
All told, it's a fair stretch until "Hotel Transylvania 2" swoops in on September 25. As long as moviegoers aren't distracted by any remaining showings of "Inside Out", there's plenty of opportunity for Kevin, Stuart and Bob to run riot.
