Despicable Me 4

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Despicable Me 4
Despicable Me 4 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Chris Renaud
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • July 3, 2024 (2024-07-03)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Despicable Me 4 is an upcoming American animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It will serve as the sequel to Despicable Me 3 (2017), the fourth main installment, and the sixth installment overall in the Despicable Me franchise. The film is directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Patrick Delage, produced by Chris Meledandri and Brett Hoffman, and written by Mike White and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofía Vergara, Miranda Cosgrove, Chloe Fineman, Stephen Colbert, and Steve Coogan.

Contents

Development on a fourth Despicable Me film began in September 2017. It was officially confirmed in February 2022, with Renaud, Delage, and White attached as director, co-director, and writer, respectively. Production was underway by June 2022. Most of the main voice cast was announced in January 2024, with Hoffman and Daurio revealed as co-producer and co-writer, respectively.

Despicable Me 4 is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on July 3, 2024.

Premise

Gru (Carell), the world's favorite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain League-agent, returns for an exciting, bold new era of Minions mayhem, alongside his wife and fellow Anti-Villain League-agent Lucy (Wiig), their three adopted girls —Margo (Cosgrove), Edith (Gaier) and Agnes (Polan)— and the newest member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad. The family is forced to go on the run when they become targeted by escaped criminal Maxime Le Mal (Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Vergara).

— Universal Pictures and Illumination [1]

Voice cast

Additionally, Stephen Colbert, Chloe Fineman, and Chris Renaud have been cast in undisclosed roles.

Production

Development of Despicable Me 4 began in September 2017. [3] The film was officially confirmed in February 2022, with veteran Despicable Me director Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage, and Mike White attached as director, co-director, and writer, respectively, and a July 3, 2024 release date announced. [4] [5] Production was underway by June 2022, with Steve Carell starting his voice recording after a "couple of sessions". [6] In January 2024, it was announced that Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofía Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Chloe Fineman, and Madison Polan would join the voice cast, with Ferrell, King, Vergara, and Polan (replacing Nev Scharrel) voicing Maxime Le Mal, Poppy, Valentina, and Agnes, respectively. [7] [2] It was also announced that The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) executive producer Brett Hoffman and longtime Despicable Me and Illumination writer Ken Daurio had been added as co-producer and co-writer, respectively. [1]

Music

In March 2024, Heitor Pereira was announced to be composing the film's score, returning from the first three films. [8] Pharrell Williams was also confirmed to be returning to co-compose the score with Pereira, as well as to write new songs. [9]

Marketing

The first trailer for the film was released on January 28, 2024, during the 2023–24 NFL playoffs championship games. [10] The trailer features the songs "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses and "Maneater" by Hall & Oates, as well as in television showings, "Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce. The trailer has 19 million views as of March 2024. [11] An additional trailer was revealed on February 11 during the Super Bowl LVIII, being narrated by Jon Hamm, who previously voiced Herb Overkill in the Minions spin-off, and featured cameos from Will Ferrell and Steve Carell. Ryan Gajewski of The Hollywood Reporter said the trailer had appeared to "tout the benefits of modern technology but feature strange images supposedly generated by AI", enjoying the Renaissance-era inspired pose of Ferrell and Carell in the trailer. [12]

Release

Despicable Me 4 is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 3, 2024. [4]

As part of Universal's deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four. [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Carell</span> American actor and comedian (born 1962)

Steven John Carell is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in the sitcom The Office, in which he also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, and director. Carell has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award for The Office. He was recognized as "America's Funniest Man" by Life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Wiig</span> American actress and comedian (born 1973)

Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Wiig achieved stardom during her seven-season tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Renaud</span> American designer

Chris Renaud is an American designer, storyboard artist, director, producer and voice actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2006 animated short No Time for Nuts, which featured the character Scrat from the computer-animated Ice Age films. His most popular work are the Despicable Me films, including 1 and 2, which he co-directed with Pierre Coffin. Along with Coffin, he also co-created and lent his voice to the Minions.

<i>Despicable Me</i> (film) 2010 Illumination film

Despicable Me is a 2010 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The first feature film from Illumination Entertainment, it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin and produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, and John Cohen, from a screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, which was in turn based on an original story "Evil Me" by Sergio Pablos. Despicable Me stars the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, and Julie Andrews. The film follows Gru, a longtime supervillain who adopts three orphan girls to use as pawns in a villainous scheme but reluctantly develops an emotional attachment to them.

Illumination, formerly known as Illumination Entertainment, is an American animation studio founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007 and is a division of Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal; Meledandri produces the films, while Universal finances and distributes them. The studio is best known for creating the Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing franchises, as well as the adaptations of Dr. Seuss' books The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!; and Nintendo video games, starting with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The Minions, characters from the Despicable Me series, are the mascots of the studio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Coffin</span> French director and voice actor

Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin is a French film director, voice actor, and animator best known for co-directing four films in the Despicable Me franchise and being the primary voice of the Minions, which won him the Kids Family Award at the 10th Seiyu Awards.

<i>Despicable Me 2</i> 2013 Illumination film

Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to Despicable Me (2010), it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Ken Jeong. The film follows retired supervillain Gru as he is recruited by secret agent Lucy Wilde to investigate the theft of a powerful mutagen by El Macho, a supervillain who seeks to achieve world domination.

<i>Despicable Me</i> Illumination media franchise

Despicable Me is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos and Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It centers on a former supervillain turned secret agent named Gru and his yellow-colored Minions. The franchise is produced by Illumination and distributed by its parent company Universal Pictures.

Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio are American screenwriters, collaborating on the screenplays for animated films, including the Despicable Me franchise, Horton Hears a Who, The Lorax and The Secret Life of Pets. The duo is co-creators of the 2021 Apple TV+ musical comedy series Schmigadoon, with Paul also serving as the series songwriter and executive producer.

<i>Minions</i> (film) 2015 Illumination film

Minions is a 2015 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is a prequel to Despicable Me (2010) and the third installment overall in the film series of the same name. Directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and written by Brian Lynch, Minions stars the voices of Coffin as the Minions, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Jennifer Saunders, and Geoffrey Rush as the narrator. In the film, the Minions search for their replaceable evil master after accidentally killing all of those in history.

<i>Despicable Me 3</i> 2017 Illumination film

Despicable Me 3 is a 2017 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to Despicable Me 2 (2013), and the third main and fourth overall installment in the Despicable Me franchise. It was directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, co-directed by production and character designer Eric Guillon, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, from a screenplay by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Trey Parker, Coffin, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Jenny Slate, Dana Gaier, Nev Scharrel, and Julie Andrews. In the film, Gru teams up with his long-lost twin brother Dru to stop Balthazar Bratt, a former child actor of the 1980s, from destroying Hollywood after his show was canceled years ago.

Minions (<i>Despicable Me</i>) Fictional cartoon characters

Minions are an all-male species of fictional yellow creatures that appear in Illumination's Despicable Me franchise. They are characterized by their childlike behavior and their language, which is largely unintelligible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illumination Studios Paris</span> French animation company

Illumination Studios Paris is a French animated feature production company owned by Illumination, a division of Universal Pictures. Based in Paris, France, the company was created in 2011 as part of Universal's purchase deal of the animation arm of French animation and VFX company Mac Guff. It is responsible for the animation on Illumination's feature-length animated films and associated short films, most notably the Despicable Me franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Balda</span> American animator and film director

Kyle Balda is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the Illumination films The Lorax (2012), with Chris Renaud; Minions (2015) and Despicable Me 3 (2017), with Pierre Coffin; and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val. He previously worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic before moving to Pixar where he worked on three of their films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gru</span> Fictional character

Felonious Gru, alternatively spelled as Felonius Gru and typically referred to simply as Gru, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Despicable Me film series. Voiced by American actor Steve Carell, he has appeared in all five films in the series. Gru is a grouchy, quick-witted and cynical former supervillain, who serves as a secret agent in order to fight other supervillains.

<i>Minions: The Rise of Gru</i> 2022 Illumination film

Minions: The Rise of Gru, also known as Minions 2, is a 2022 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to Minions (2015), a prequel to Despicable Me (2010), and the fifth entry overall in the Despicable Me franchise. The film was directed by Kyle Balda, co-directed by Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val, and produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy and Chris Renaud, from a screenplay written by Matthew Fogel, and a story by Fogel and Brian Lynch. It features Steve Carell reprising his role as Gru and Pierre Coffin as the Minions, along with Russell Brand and Julie Andrews reprising their respective roles as Dr. Nefario and Gru's mother. New cast members include Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, and Alan Arkin. Additionally, Will Arnett and Steve Coogan reprise their roles as Mr. Perkins and Silas Ramsbottom. In the film, an eleven-year-old Gru plans to become a supervillain with the help of his Minions, which leads to a showdown with a malevolent team, the Vicious 6.

Lego Minions: The Rise of Gru was a Lego theme based on the film of the same name. It is licensed from Universal Pictures and Illumination. The theme was first introduced in March 2020. It was eventually discontinued by the end of December 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 "Despicable Me 4". Universal Pictures. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Joey King [@joeyking] (January 28, 2024). "Say hello to Poppy. You do not wanna get on her bad side…she can be pretty…Despicable. #DM4 coming to theaters July 3rd. Trailer out now" – via Instagram.
  3. ↑ Sakoui, Anousha; Palmeri, Christopher (September 12, 2017). "In Dismal Summer, Despicable Me 3 Producer Delivers $1 Billion" . Bloomberg Businessweek . Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Grobar, Matt (February 18, 2022). "Illumination & Universal Set Dates For Animated Films Migration & Despicable Me 4". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  5. ↑ Moreau, Jordan (February 18, 2022). "Despicable Me 4 Set for Summer 2024 by Illumination, Universal". Variety . Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  6. ↑ Seddon, Dan; Sandwell, Ian (June 27, 2022). "Steve Carell gives exciting Despicable Me 4 update as he teases plot". Digital Spy . Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  7. ↑ Dick, Jeremy (January 28, 2024). "Gru Faces a New Nemesis in First Despicable Me 4 Trailer". CBR. Archived from the original on February 4, 2024. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Heitor Pereira Scoring Illumination Entertainment's 'Despicable Me 4' | Film Music Reporter" . Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  9. ↑ Jirax, Jamie (April 11, 2024). "Despicable Me 4 Confirms Pharrell Williams Returning as Songwriter and Performer". ComicBook.com . Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  10. ↑ Lovett, Jamie (January 28, 2024). "Despicable Me 4 Trailer Released". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2024. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Despicable Me 4 Official Trailer". Illumination. January 28, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  12. ↑ Gajewski, Ryan (February 11, 2024). "Jon Hamm Narrates 'Despicable Me 4' Super Bowl Trailer Mocking AI Glitches". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  13. ↑ Hayes, Dade (December 9, 2021). "NBCUniversal's New Theatrical Window Scheme To Bring Films To Peacock After As Few As 45 Days Of Release". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  14. ↑ Moon, Mariella (July 14, 2021). "Netflix extends exclusive rights to Universal's animated films in the US". Engadget . Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
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