In a darkened cinema, as the credits roll on Minions & Monsters, a scattering of viewers remain in their seats, waiting. They know there are five post-credits scenes, a ritual that has become as much a part of the Despicable Me franchise as the yellow creatures themselves. This quiet vigil, repeated in multiplexes from São Paulo to Mexico City, marks the arrival of the seventh film in the series, which opened on 2 July and immediately set a new benchmark for the property: an 89% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest in the franchise’s history.

The film transports the Minions to 1920s Hollywood, where a dreamer named James accidentally unleashes real monsters while trying to make a movie. In Latin America, the dubbed version features a cast of well-known voices, including a popular Mexican influencer making his debut as the villain Goomi, a detail that underscores how localisation strategies now shape global releases. The critical reception stands in sharp contrast to another July tentpole, Supergirl, which sits at 54%, according to aggregator data.

This Minions triumph is part of a broader wave of legacy intellectual property driving both box office and streaming charts. The Michael Jackson biopic Michael has become the highest-grossing biopic ever, overtaking Oppenheimer with $977 million worldwide, even as UK critics described it as a “whitewash” for omitting abuse allegations. The film’s success has propelled Jackson’s albums to new peaks on US sales charts: Number Ones and Bad both reached their highest positions ever on Billboard’s Top Album Sales ranking, while Thriller was blocked from the top spot only by Olivia Rodrigo’s latest release. Meanwhile, the critically panned but commercially triumphant A Minecraft Movie has just landed on Netflix, where its 84% audience score tells a different story from the 47% critics’ rating.

July’s streaming slate reflects this interplay of franchise extensions and original storytelling. Apple TV+ launched the third season of Silo, which holds a 100% critics’ score, alongside Disney+’s X-Men ’97 season 2 and Hulu’s Adventure Time: Side Quests, both also at 100%. Netflix countered with Enola Holmes 3 and a Spanish-language documentary series, while Prime Video offered Elle, a prequel to Legally Blonde. Universal’s PVOD strategy, now mandating a five-weekend theatrical window, means Minions & Monsters will likely arrive on digital platforms in early August, following the pattern of its predecessors, according to US box office analysts.

Back in the cinema, as the final post-credits scene flickers out, a child in a Minions T-shirt tugs at a parent’s sleeve, already asking when they can watch it again. The loop of franchise consumption, from theatre to streaming to merchandise, continues, powered by characters who, a century after the silent era they parody, still cannot speak a coherent word but have no trouble being heard.