A Surprising Box Office Hit

Michelle Yeoh has starred in many notable box office hits, but her highest-grossing movie of her career is probably not what you thought. Yeoh’s career began with her starring in a number of great martial arts movies, including the Police Story movies with Jackie Chan. As impressive as she is as an action star, Yeoh proved she had incredible range.

Yeoh’s Oscar-winning performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once was a career highlight, but her movies have also been financially impressive. Yeoh has appeared in some big franchises, including the James Bond movies, the MCU, and the Transformers franchise.

Some of her most acclaimed movies have also been surprise box office successes, including Wicked and Crazy Rich Asians. However, when it comes to the movie from Michelle Yeoh’s career with the biggest box office total, it is actually one that fans might overlook.

Michelle Yeoh’s Highest-Grossing Movie Is Minions: The Rise Of Gru

Even with all of the massive live-action roles in Michelle Yeoh’s career, her highest-grossing movie is one in which she doesn’t appear on-screen. The animated family comedy Minions: The Rise of Gru outpaces the likes of Wicked and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at the box office, earning $940.5 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).

The prequel movie within the Despicable Me franchise catches up with Gru (Steve Carell) when he was a young child, already with plans of being the world’s greatest supervillain on his mind. He also meets the scene-stealing Minions, who are taught kung-fu by the skilled master and acupuncturist, Master Chow (Yeoh).

The impressive box office total is not totally surprising, as the Despicable Me movies have become the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time, with over $5 billion globally. However, given how many iconic live-action performances come to mind when thinking of Yeoh’s legendary career, it is hard to imagine a supporting animated role being the biggest.

Michelle Yeoh Has An Underrated Voice Acting Career

While Michelle Yeoh’s animated roles might not be the first ones that come to mind when thinking of her movies, she does have a successful voice acting career. Along with Minions: The Rise of Gru, several of Yeoh’s voice roles are among her highest-grossing movies. This includes Soothsayer in Kung Fu Panda 2 and Airazor in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Also like Minions: The Rise of Gru, several of Yeoh’s voice roles lean into her reputation as a martial arts movie icon. Kung Fu Panda 2, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, and The Tiger’s Apprentice all cast Yeoh in their voice cast within a story that deals heavily in martial arts.

More recently, Yeoh was announced to be leading the voice cast of the English-dubbed version of the Chinese animated hit, Ne Zha 2. While Michelle Yeoh is joining the movie’s American release, after it had its box office success, the movie outgrossed Minions: The Rise of Gru, becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of all time.