In a Summer of big hitters – from DC’s Wonder Women to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean – one film has risen above the crowd to take the title of highest grossing blockbuster from Summer 2017.

Any guesses?

Yep, it’s third time a charm for Illumination’s Despicable Me trilogy, with Despicable Me 3 reeling in almost $950m worldwide since its June release.

That’s an almost $90m lead over nearest competitor Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s $862m total to date.

Despicable Me 3, in which Steve Carrell’s Gru meets his twin brother Dru and faces 80s-inspired baddie: Balthazar Bratt, currently stands as the third highest grossing film of 2017 so far. Only Beauty and the Beast and the seventh Fast and Furious film have bested its total.

The threequel is, however, still some way from being the highest grossing film of the wider Despicable Me franchise. That title belongs to the main series’ spin-off Minions of 2015 and its $1.2bn gross. Despicable Me 3 also trails Despicable Me 2’s $970m total.

The films all come from Universal’s Illumination Studios. With Despicable Me 3 now taking a spot as the 8th highest grossing animated film of all time (unadjusted for inflation), Illumination are riding high.

Founded just a decade ago, Illumination can claim responsibility for three of the top ten highest grossing films of all time.

This box office success story is something of a rarity from the 2017 crop, amid the underperforming returns of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Baywatch and even the final Transformers film.

Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Night has still grasped a top ten box office spot for the year so far, but this comes at a slide of around $500m on 2014’s Age of Existence.

Even with Star Wars VIII and Blade Runner: 2049 on the horizon, predictions are indicating a significant dip in 2017 at the box office, compared to last year’s year-end totals.