The "Despicable Me" franchise now has more No. 1 box office debuts than any other animated franchise, having surpassed the previous record of five No. 1 movies established by "Shrek" and its sequels and spin-offs. Of the six "Shrek" and "Shrek"-adjacent movies released so far, "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" was the only one not to debut in first place (and it still went on to become a box office hit). 

"Despicable Me 4" arrived in theaters on Wednesday this week and is on track to gross $120 million over its five-day extended opening, per Deadline. The record of six movie launches at the top of the box office charts includes the spin-off "Minions" and its sequel "Minion: The Rise of Gru," which capitalized on the popularity of supervillain (now former supervillain) Gru's army of little yellow lackeys. In fact, "Minions" is still the most successful movie in the franchise,...