10 Movies You Won’t Believe Were Box Office Mega Hits

Illumination have been on something of a hot streak over the last decade or so, with the studio consistently churning out crowd-pleasing hits after the success of the first Despicable Me feature back in 2010. Yet, not everything the company has touched has turned to gold in terms of quality in that time, with 2012's Dr. Seuss' The Lorax sticking out like a particularly sore, orange-looking thumb.

Sure, the story was colourfully brought to life by a strong enough voice cast, including the likes of Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Betty White, Taylor Swift, and Danny DeVito as The Lorax, and flaunted the usual array of impressive Illumination visuals. But many felt the eco-friendly Dr. Seuss adaptation lacked the simplistic spirit of the novel it was based on, and the film would end up being seen as largely inferior to other Seuss adaptations such as Horton Hears a Who! and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Yet, it's lukewarm reception with critics still didn't stop it bringing in a boatload of money at the box office as The Lorax eventually managed to bring home a whopping $348.8million against a $70 million budget. Sensing there was still money to be made in Seuss' sandbox, the studio eventually put their own spin on The Grinch in 2018 too, with that film going on to earn a frightening $511.8million on a $75million budget.