Migration lands on Netflix’s global top 10 chart after earning $299 million worldwide. Directed by Benjamin Renner, Migration hails from Illumination, the studio behind hit movies like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the Despicable Me franchise. The animated adventure comedy film, which hit theaters in late 2023, follows a family of ducks who attempt to convince their father to go on an epic adventure, with the Migration reviews ultimately praising the endeavor.

Now, Netflix data reveals that Migration ranks as the fourth most popular movie on the streamer globally for the week of August 19 – 25. The animated film has racked up an impressive 11.5 million hours viewed and 8.3 million views in total, beating titles like Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Tòkunbọ̀ (2024), and The Emoji Movie (2017). Migration falls short of Untold: The Murder of Air McNair (2024), Incoming (2024), and The Union (2024), which towers over the competition with 40.6 million views.

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Breaking Down Migration’s Release & Performance

Why The Illumination Film Is Finding Streaming Success

Critically, Migration fared about the same as Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise. The animated film currently has a 73% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which suggests a somewhat lukewarm reception from critics. Though the film is enjoyable enough, most reviews take issue with the overly-simplistic storytelling, which ultimately makes it feel like it’s playing it safe. As with most Illumination movies, however, the audience response was much more positive, and Migration has an 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Though Migration didn’t perform as well as The Super Mario Bros. Movie or 2024’s Despicable Me 4, the film is still undeniably a success. Made on an estimated budget of $72 million, Migration was likely looking at a break-even point of roughly $180 million, a figure it handily surpassed. Still, the film can’t be considered among Illumination’s most successful efforts, and it ultimately feels like it came and went with little fanfare.

That being said, Migration‘s new streaming success speaks to the power of the Illumination name and the longevity that animation titles can have on streaming. The Illumination name is now, like Pixar, a key part of their films’ marketing, and it’s very likely that a tagline like “from the studio that brought you Despicable Me” is enough to get someone to select the film’s tile on Netflix. Migration may be, overall, a lesser Illumination effort, but it’s clear that the film is still charming family audiences even eight months after its theatrical release.

Source: Netflix