Universal Pictures continued its record year as “Minions” brought in $115 million over the weekend making it the second-biggest animated opening ever.

The third installment of the “Despicable Me” franchise featuring the yellow pill-capsule shaped Minion characters is the fifth movie so far this year to gross $100 million or more for Universal Pictures in Universal City.

Also, the $46.2 million that “Minions” grossed on Friday is the biggest opening day for an animated film ever, according to Box Office Mojo, in Burbank. The biggest opening weekend of all time still belongs to “Shrek the Third” from DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., in Glendale, which hit about $122 million in 2007.

Second at the box office for the weekend was “Jurassic World,” also distributed by Universal; it brought in $18 million, adding to its record $1.5 billion worldwide box office gross. “Inside Out,” from Walt Disney Co. subsidiary Pixar Studios, placed second with $17 million.

Globally, “Minions” has grossed $396 million. Combined with its other breakout hits this year, the NBC Universal unit of Comcast Corp. has grossed $4.2 billion worldwide. That easily surpasses the studio’s 2013 box office take of $3.8 billion, the previous record.

In addition to “Jurassic World,” Universal also distributed “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which was released in February and grossed $570 million; “Pitch Perfect 2,” in May raised $279 million; and the April release “Furious 7” grossed $1.5 billion.

See the Los Angeles Business Journal’s coverage here.