Hollywood has a long history of one-time “friendly rivalries” that turned bitter: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Eisner; and, more recently Netflix and Paramount/Skydance. Pixar and Illumination, which, to be honest, play uncharacteristically nicely — at least by Hollywood standards — could be poised for a similar trajectory. For the ninth time in the past 16 years the two rivals will be duking it out for financial domination as they release their respective summer blockbusters within weeks of each other.
Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” comes out this weekend. It will be followed up two weeks later with Illumination’s “Minions and Monsters,” a spin-off of the Steve Carell-led “Despicable Me” franchise which opens July 1. The films collectively should bring more than $700 million to the domestic box office, with “Toy Story 5” in particular eyeing a franchise-best $140 million opening this weekend, and a surefire bet to surpass $1B globally.
Pixar, of course, changed cinematic history and introduced a new genre with a string of blockbusters: “Toy Story,” “A Bugs Life,” “Monsters Inc.” “Cars,” “Up,” “Wall-E” and “Inside Out,” among others. But in recent years, the Emeryville-based company has struggled through a creative and commercial rut, while Illumination has increasingly been viewed by top agents and box office observers as the more successful upstart.
Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri, a former animation exec at 20th Century Fox, is responsible for the highest-grossing animated franchise in history — “Despicable Me”— and his two “Super Mario Bros.” movies also made the top 10 highest-grossing animation film list.
One could argue that Pixar’s 23 Academy Awards versus Illumination’s none makes any comparison sacrilege. But given the financial distress the industry is facing, some are recalibrating the singular measures of success.
“I don’t think Chris is craving an Oscar when his films are earning a billion dollars,” one top animation agent tells Page Six Hollywood when asked to compare Pixar and Illumination. It’s worth noting that when Meledandri got a star on the Walk of Fame last week, Pixar president Jim Morris was part of the small guest list.
Culturally, the two studios bear stark similarities. Pixar is known to hire as much for personality as for talent.
Said one source: “You might be the best candidate, but they won’t hire you unless you really fit in.” Both companies rely on a short list of trusted directors and a source inside Illumination tells P6H that Meledandri — who splits his time between the company’s Santa Monica offices and its Paris-based studios, where the majority of the production is housed — likes to nurture talent and has given 40 different artists their first chance to direct or co-direct, including shorts.
Each of their “Despicable Me” movies features at least one, if not two, of a talented team comprised of Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin or Kyle Balda. Renaud moved to Paris to work for Illumination, has often collaborated with Coffin and has also voiced the Minions as well as helmed the “Secret Life of Pets” movies and “The Lorax.”
Both “Super Mario” films were helmed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. Pixar has also frequently relied on top talent like Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton, who returned for “Toy Story 5.”
One major difference is that whether it’s John Lasseter or his successor Pete Docter, Pixar has been led by someone who has actually sat in the director’s chair. Meledandri, on the other hand, is more akin to a Kevin Feige-type, a career studio executive who has had success in shepherding projects as a producer, though he is getting his first writing credit on the upcoming “Shrek 5” for DreamWorks.
Both “Toy Story 5” and “Minions and Monsters” come out in a summer dominated by low-budget horror films “Obsession” and “Backrooms,” while other classic IP franchises like “Star Wars” and “Masters of the Universe” have under-performed.
These two family friendly animation franchises will change the narrative again — at least until the industry is blindsided by the next successful gamble someone takes.
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