Illumination has released a trailer for the sequel to its Despicable Me Minions spinoff-prequel, Minions: The Rise of Gru. As beloved as Steve Carell's supervillain-turned dad Gru is, he's no match for the sheer popularity of his oddball yellow Minion sidekicks from the Despicable Me movies. Released in 2015, the first Minions spinoff explored the origins of the characters and went on to become the fifth highest-grossing animated film of all time, taking in over $1.1 billion at the box office. After that, it's no surprise Illumation is heading back to the Minions well for more.
Directed by Illumination veteran Kyle Balda (with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val co-helming), The Rise of Gru follows the misadventures of the Minions as they join forces with a teenaged Gru, whom they met near the end of their first movie spinoff. The studio kicked off its marketing for the film last weekend with a Super Bowl spot, teasing the arrival of a full-length preview today. Fortunately, for those in need of another fix of Minions madness, they've since followed through on their promise.
The Minions: The Rise of Gru trailer is now online, ahead of its premiere in theaters over the forthcoming weeks. You can check it out in the space below.
Picking up in the '70s, The Rise of Gru follows a kid version of the eponymous evil-doer - once again voiced by Carell - as he tries to secure a spot on a world-famous supervillain group known as the Vicious 6. Said "6" are voiced by big names like Taraji P. Henson (their leader, Belle Bottom), Jean-Claude Van Damme (Jean Clawed), Lucy Lawless (Nunchuck), Dolph Lundgren (Svengeance), and Danny Trejo (Stronghold), in addition to Oscar-winner Alan Arkin as their recently-ousted head, Wild Knuckles. The trailer doesn't really touch on the movie's larger plot, which sees Gru turn to Wild Knuckles for guidance after his interview with the Vicious 6 goes south and he decides to steal their precious stone instead. Rather, the focus here is on Gru and the Minions as they flee the scene of the crime, only for Otto (a Minion who sports braces and has "a desperate need to please") to inadvertently foil their otherwise perfect getaway.
At this point, Illumination seems to have a firm grasp on the Despicable Me/Minions brand and what people expect from it, and The Rise of Gru doesn't look to rock the boat in that regard. There's not much reason to, either; both Minions and Despicable Me 3 grossed north of $1 billion at the box office in spite of lukewarm reviews, so there's clearly a large audience who still adore the gibberish-speaking Minions and their slapstick-heavy, pop culture-informed sense of comedy. Minions: The Rise of Gru will mostly have families to itself when it arrives over the Fourth of July, opening against the older-skewing Ryan Reynolds action-comedy Free Guy. So, unless the prequel-sequel performs lower than expected, it's probably safe to assume Minions 3 will happen down the line too.
Source: Illumination