If you’ve perused the Netflix Top 10 list before, then you know some movies have incredible staying power—especially children’s movies. While an adult-targeted film like Back in Action can control the #1 position on the movie charts for 16 consecutive days (the fourth-longest streak ever, by the way) like it did earlier this month, it usually exits the Top 10 within 30 days of its release. But some movies, like Sing 2, The Boss Baby and Trolls Bad Together, remain dominant throughout their entire Netflix runs. They achieve a special kind of omnipresence that signals just how lucrative the kids movie market can be. And an upcoming Netflix movie could prove that like never before—a sequel that scored nearly $1 billion at the global box office in 2024.

I am of course talking about Despicable Me 4, which accrued $969.1 billion at the worldwide box office last year, making it the fourth-highest earner internationally in 2024 and the fifth-highest earner domestically. This continued a string of dominant performance for the franchise: Despicable Me earned $544.1 billion internationally back in 2010; Despicable Me 2 accumulated $970.7 billion in 2013; and Despicable Me 3 made $1.03 billion in 2017. And let us not forget the franchise’s most lucrative film, Minions, which scored $1.15 billion in 2015, as well as Minions: The Rise of Gru, which netted $940.4 billion in 2022. In total, the series has made close to $6 billion in box office receipts.

But the Despicable Me franchise reveals its true strength on streaming platforms, where children (and I can confidently say this as a parent of two) can watch Gru and his minion pals over and over and over again. The evidence is clear on Netflix, where four of those franchise movies (Despicable Me 3 has never graced the platform) have dominated like almost no other film. Three of those movies in particular—Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2 and Minions—rank in the top six for most appearances on the Top 10 ever. Here are the current leaders:

1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie – 277 days
2. Sing 2 – 235 days
3. Despicable Me – 207 days
4. Despicable Me 2 – 162 days
5. The Boss Baby – 141 days
6. Minions – 142 days
7. The Secret Life of Pets 2 – 138 days
8. Shrek – 132 days
9. Home – 117 days
10. The Grinch – 97 days

Note all ten of those movies are animated—that’s how dominant the genre is on Netflix. Yet, the Despicable Me movies still reign supreme, combining for a total of (when we include Minions: The Rise of Gru’s 65 appearances) 576 showings on the Top 10 charts. This sovereignty stretches all the way back to April 2020, just weeks after when Netflix first premiered the Top 10 feature, when Despicable Me recorded a six-day streak in the #1 position. Since then, the franchise has consistently remained in the Top 10 each time it has been re-added to the Netflix line-up.

But it’s worth noting, however, that Despicable Me 2 has been the most dominant of the franchise on Netflix. While Despicable Me has made more appearances, the sequel has spent more time in the premier positions of the Top 10. I know this because of my ranking system where I assign points based on how highly each movie charts—10 points for first place, nine points for second, etc. And those rankings reveal a different story:

1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie – 1,145 points
2. Sing 2 – 1,107 points
3. Despicable Me 2 – 968 points
4. Despicable Me – 779 points
5. Shrek – 632 points
6. The Boss Baby – 497 points
7. Trolls Band Together – 418 points
8. We Can Be Heroes – 418 points
9. The Mitchells vs. The Machines – 383 points
10. The Secret Life of Pets 2 – 379 points
11. Minions – 372 points

As you can see, Despicable Me 2 has consistently ranked higher on the Top 10 charts than its predecessor. This year alone, the sequel has snagged four days in the #1 position and has netted 227 points—which is only four points shy of Back in Action’s 2025-leading 231 points:

1. Back in Action – 231 points
2. Despicable Me 2 – 227 points
3. Despicable Me – 177 points
4. The Menu – 123 points
5. Ad Vitam – 115 points
6. Kinda Pregnant – 113 points
7. Aftermath – 111 points
8. Trial By Fire – 110 points
9. La Dolce Villa – 97 points
10. Hotel Transylvania 2 – 85 points

I note this because it seems the sequel has always performed better than the original Despicable Me film, which leads me to believe that Despicable Me 4—a brand new box office juggernaut that will offer a bit of solace after the first two Despicable Me movies exited the Netflix platform at the end of January—will ascend to heights even greater than Despicable Me 2. I expect Despicable Me 4 to not only rise to the top of that 2025 rankings, but to crack the all-time top ten before long.

And it’s got plenty of time to do so. After a four-month stint on the Peacock platform, Despicable Me 4 will grace Netflix for ten whole months starting Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Typically, the Despicable Me movies have had a much shorter window than that on Netflix, which means we could see Super Mario Bros. Movie-level of dominance—and perhaps the film could far eclipse even that. Only time will tell if Despicable Me 4 becomes the most dominant movie Netflix has ever seen.