Minions | |
---|---|
Directed by | |
Written by | Brian Lynch |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Edited by | Claire Dodgson |
Music by | Heitor Pereira |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 91 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $74 million [2] |
Box office | $1.159 billion [3] |
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 (including Kevin, Stuart, and Bob), 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.
Minions debuted in London on June 11, 2015, and was released in the United States on July 10. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the animation, voice acting, and score, but criticized the character development and humor, which some called unfunny and inappropriate. The film grossed $1.159 billion worldwide, and became the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2015, the tenth-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time at its peak. It also became the highest-grossing film produced by Illumination until it was surpassed by The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023. A sequel, Minions: The Rise of Gru , was released in 2022 to similar success.
Minions are small, yellow pill-shaped creatures which have existed since the beginning of time, evolving from single-celled organisms into beings which exist only to serve history's most evil masters, but they accidentally end up killing all their masters: rolling a Tyrannosaurus into a volcano, letting a caveman get mauled by a bear, crushing a Pharaoh and his subjects with a pyramid, and exposing Count Dracula to sunlight. They are driven into isolation after firing a cannon at Napoleon while in Russia and start a new life inside a cave, but after many years, the Minions become sad and unmotivated without a master to serve. This prompts three Minions; named Kevin, Stuart and Bob, to go out on a quest to find a new master for their brethren to follow.
The three journey in 1968 to New York City and stay at a department store for the night, where they come across a hidden commercial broadcast advertising Villain-Con, an Orlando convention for all villains. The next day, they hitchhike a ride with the Nelsons, a family of thieves. At the convention, they meet Scarlet Overkill, the world's first female supervillain, who unexpectedly hires them and takes them to her home in London. They phone the rest of the Minions to get them to join. Scarlet plans to steal the Imperial State Crown from Queen Elizabeth II, promising to reward the Minions if they succeed, but also threatening to kill them if they fail.
Scarlet's husband Herb supplies them with inventions to aid in the heist, but they are nearly caught while breaking into the Tower of London. During the subsequent chase, Bob runs into the Sword in the Stone and pulls the sword free to defend himself and his friends, removing the Queen from the throne and making Bob the new King. Enraged that someone else accomplished her dream of stealing the throne, Scarlet confronts Bob, who voluntarily abdicates the throne in her favor. Undeterred, Scarlet imprisons Kevin, Stuart and Bob in a dungeon, where Herb attempts to torture the trio, but they escape with the intention to apologize to Scarlet at her coronation.
After making their way to Westminster Abbey, Kevin, Stuart and Bob interrupt the coronation by inadvertently dropping a chandelier on Scarlet. Mistaking the accident for an assassination attempt, Scarlet angrily orders the trio's execution and has other villains chase them through the streets of London during a thunderstorm. Stuart and Bob are captured, while Kevin hides in a pub and sees Scarlet on television, who declares that she will kill Stuart and Bob if Kevin does not show up by dawn. With the villains still searching for him, Kevin sneaks into Scarlet's castle to steal weapons and triggers a machine Herb was building, causing him to grow in size into a giant. Kevin tramples through London, rescues his friends and battles Scarlet, just as the other Minions turn up in the city. Scarlet tries to eradicate them by firing a massive missile, but Kevin swallows it. Scarlet and Herb attempt to escape with her rocket dress, only for Kevin to hold onto it and get pulled into the sky. The missile explodes, seemingly killing Kevin, Scarlet and Herb. As the Minions mourn the loss of their leader, Kevin survives after returning to his normal size.
The Queen gets her throne and crown back. She rewards Bob with a tiny crown for his teddy bear Tim, Stuart with an electric guitar, and Kevin with a knighthood. Scarlet and Herb, still alive, steal the crown again, only to be stopped by a young Gru, who fires a freeze ray at them and flees with the crown on a rocket-powered motorcycle. The Minions run after him, deciding he is the master they were looking for.
Additionally, Steve Carell reprises his role as Gru, who appears at the end of the film in his younger form. [9] Other cast members include Katy Mixon as Tina Nelson, Walter and Madge's thief daughter; [9] Michael Beattie as Walter Nelson Jr., Walter and Madge's thief son [9] (Beattie also voices a VNC announcer); Hiroyuki Sanada as Dumo, a sumo fighter villain; [9] and Dave Rosenbaum as Fabrice, Scarlet's personal stylist. [9]
Development of Minions was greenlit in July 2012, [10] after writer Brian Lynch recognized the popularity of Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, a simulator ride. [11] Pierre Coffin became director again with newcomer Kyle Balda as the co-director, marking the first film in the franchise where Chris Renaud is not a director. Eric Guillon returned for the film but was not an art director, as he was the character and production designer for the film.
In February 2013, Sandra Bullock joined the cast to voice Scarlet Overkill, [5] with Jon Hamm joining two months later as her husband Herb Overkill. [6] Bullock was paid $10 million for her involvement. [12] In March 2015, Allison Janney was cast as Madge Nelson. [8] Pierre Coffin, the film's director, reprised his role as the Minions. This is one of the films in the franchise in which Coffin is the lead actor and the first film where Chris Renaud doesn't serve as a director, but an executive producer. Kyle Balda served as a co-director along with Coffin. Jennifer Saunders was cast to voice Queen Elizabeth II.
The official soundtrack for the film was released on July 10, 2015, by Back Lot Music. The soundtrack also features the film's original music, composed by Heitor Pereira. [13] [14]
Bloomberg News estimated that Universal Pictures spent $593 million in advertisements and promotions for the film. [15] Television ads were spent at $26.1 million. [16] Universal Pictures described the film's promotional campaign as the "largest and most comprehensive" in its history. [17] In April 2015, Pantone announced the creation of a new official Pantone color, "Minion Yellow", in partnership with Illumination. [18] A series of comics and graphic novels based on the film were published by Titan Comics and launched in June. [19] Other promotional partners included McDonald's, Chiquita, and General Mills. [20] The campaign featured 850 toy brands. [21] As a promotional tie-in, Minions Paradise was released. [22]
Minions debuted at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on June 11, 2015, [23] followed by a premiere on June 27, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. [24] The film was initially scheduled for release on December 19, 2014, [25] but was postponed to July 10, 2015. This shift was reportedly made in response to Universal's satisfaction with the successful release of Despicable Me 2 (2013) and desire to exploit fully the merchandising potential of Minions. [26] [27]
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Minions for digital download on November 24, 2015, and on Blu-ray and DVD on December 8. Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes; a deleted scene; an interactive world map; short films Cro Minion, Competition, and Binky Nelson Unpacified; and a trailer of The Secret Life of Pets (2016). [28] Minions was the best-selling home-video release of December. Blu-ray accounted for 67 percent of its sales, along with the home-media release of Ant-Man . [29] By the end of 2015, the physical release had grossed about $95.7 million. [30] A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released in 2017. [31]
Minions earned $336 million in the United States and Canada and $823.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.159 billion. [3] It was the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2015, [32] the 10th-highest-grossing film of all time, [33] and the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time. [34] On August 28, 2015, Minions passed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, becoming the third animated film to cross that milestone after Toy Story 3 (2010) and Frozen (2013). [35] Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $502 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it second on their list of 2015's "Most Valuable Blockbusters". [2]
In the United States and Canada, Minions was released with The Gallows and Self/less on July 10, 2015. It earned $46 million on its first day, [36] including $6.2 million from Thursday night previews. [37] During its opening weekend, the film earned $115.2 million across 4,301 theaters, making it the second-highest opening weekend for an animated film, behind Shrek the Third (2007). [36] Moreover, it had the largest opening weekend for a prequel, breaking the previous record held by Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). [38] The film would hold the record for having the highest opening weekend for an Illumination film until 2023 when The Super Mario Bros. Movie took it. [39] Its second weekend earnings dropped by 57 percent to $50.2 million, [40] and followed by another $22 million the third weekend. [41] Minions completed its theatrical run on December 17, 2015. [42]
Worldwide, Minions debuted in 44 markets on June 18, 2015, [43] and later a total of 66 countries by July 11. [44] The film earned $12.5 million in its opening weekend from four countries, [45] and in its second, Minions made $37.6 million in 10 markets. [46] Its top international markets were the United Kingdom ($73.1 million), China ($63.47 million), and Germany ($63.46 million). [47]
The film has an approval rating of 55% based on 226 professional reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 5.8/10. Its critical consensus reads, "The Minions' brightly colored brand of gibberish-fueled insanity stretches to feature length in their self-titled Despicable Me spinoff, with uneven but often hilarious results." [48] Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [49] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. [50]
Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club gave the film a C, saying "Minions has idiosyncratic roots, but it's a franchise play all the way. Finally, even 5-year-olds have their own movie that mechanically cashes in on something they loved when they were younger". [51] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "I, too, once enjoyed the Minions, in the small doses that they came in. But the extra-strength Minions is, for better or for worse, too much of a good thing". [52] Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "Brian Lynch's screenplay features a series of amusing sight gags and physical comedy that mostly hits; watching the Minions play Polo while riding Corgis is an exercise in cuteness". [53] Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "Impressive as it is that the filmmakers get so much comedic mileage out of their characters' half-intelligible prattling, the conventional dialogue is bafflingly flat". [54] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said, "While Minions explores nominally new narrative ground, it folds neatly into a series that now includes two features, various shorts, books, video games, sheet music and a theme park attraction. So, you know, different but also the same". [55]
Tom Long of The Detroit News gave the film a B, saying "Minions is every bit as cute as it's supposed to be, a happily empty-headed animated frolic that rarely pauses to take a breath". [56] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "It's not whether this prequel can mint money; that's a given. The questions is: Can the minions carry a movie all by their mischievous mini-selves? 'Fraid not". [57] Kerry Lengel of The Arizona Republic gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "Despite the dizzying pace of carefully calibrated incongruities, Minions somehow never generates more than the occasional chuckle". [58] Christopher Orr of The Atlantic said, "There's plenty of high-velocity comic inanity on display to keep kids happily diverted. But the movie's major flaw is an extension of its own premise: Search as they may, the minions never find a villain worthy of their subservience". [59] Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail gave the film two stars out of four, saying, "With its episodic stream of slapstick gags, Minions has moments of piquant absurdity, but mostly its shrill-but-cutesy anarchy works as a visual sugar rush for the preschool set". [60]
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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Annie Awards | February 6, 2016 | Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Production | Frank Baradat, Antonin Seydoux, Milo Riccarand, and Nicolas Brack | Nominated | [61] |
Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Feature Production | Hichem Arfaoui | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in a Feature Production | Eric Guillon | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Eric Guillon | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production | Habib Louati | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Pierre Coffin | Nominated | |||
Jon Hamm | Nominated | ||||
British Academy Children's Awards | November 22, 2015 | Kid's Vote — Film | Minions | Won | [62] [63] |
British Academy Film Awards | February 14, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Minions | Nominated | [64] |
Cinema Audio Society Awards | February 20, 2016 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Animated | Carlos Sotolongo, Gary Rizzo, Chris Scarabosio, Shawn Murphy, and Corey Tyler | Nominated | [65] |
Empire Awards | March 20, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Minions | Nominated | [66] |
Golden Reel Awards | February 27, 2016 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR for Animated Feature Film | Dennis Leonard | Nominated | [67] |
Golden Trailer Awards | May 6, 2015 | Best Animation/Family | "Trailer 1" (Motive Creative) | Nominated | [68] [69] |
Best Animation/Family Poster | "Stuart, Kevin & Bob One-Sheet" (Ignition) | Won | |||
Best Summer Blockbuster Poster | "Stuart, Kevin & Bob One-Sheet" (Ignition) | Won | |||
"Overkill One-Sheet" (Ignition) | Nominated | ||||
May 4, 2016 | Best Animation/Family Poster | "Butts" (Lindeman & Associates) | Nominated | [70] [71] | |
Best Animation/Family TV Spot | "Came From" (Workshop Creative) | Nominated | |||
Best Billboard | "Bananas Billboard" (Lindeman & Associates) | Nominated | |||
Best Voiceover TV Spot | "Came From" (Workshop Creative) | Nominated | |||
Best Wildposts (Teaser Campaign) | "Artist Series" (Lindeman & Associates) | Won | |||
Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 11, 2015 | Best Original Score in an Animated Film | Heitor Pereira | Nominated | [72] [73] |
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | March 12, 2016 | Favorite Animated Movie | Minions | Nominated | [74] |
Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie | Sandra Bullock | Nominated | |||
People's Choice Awards | January 6, 2016 | Favorite Animated Movie Voice | Sandra Bullock | Nominated | [75] |
Favorite Family Movie | Minions | Won | |||
Producers Guild of America Awards | January 23, 2016 | Best Animated Motion Picture | Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy | Nominated | [76] |
Saturn Awards | June 22, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Minions | Nominated | [77] [78] |
Minions was followed by Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), the fifth overall installment in the Despicable Me franchise. [79] 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. [80] It achieved similar financial and critical success as the first two Despicable Me films. [81] [82]
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.
Christopher Meledandri is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination. He previously served as President of 20th Century Fox Animation, and has worked as the producer for the film series of Ice Age, Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets and Sing. In 2021, he joined Nintendo's board of directors after working with the video game company on The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
The Secret Life of Pets is a 2016 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, from a screenplay written by Brian Lynch and the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. The film stars the voices of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Steve Coogan, and Albert Brooks.
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.
Sing is a 2016 American animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was written and directed by Garth Jennings, co-directed by Christophe Lourdelet, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, the film focuses on a struggling theater owner who stages a singing competition in an effort to prevent his theater from entering foreclosure, as well as how the competition interferes with the personal lives of its contestants.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a 2019 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to the 2016 film The Secret Life of Pets, and the second feature film in the franchise of the same name. It was directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Jonathan del Val, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and written by Brian Lynch. The film features the voices of Patton Oswalt, Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, Lake Bell, Nick Kroll, Dana Carvey, Ellie Kemper, Renaud, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, and Harrison Ford.
The Secret Life of Pets is an American media franchise created by Illumination. Directed by Chris Renaud, the franchise stars the voices of Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Tara Strong, Hannibal Buress, and Bobby Moynihan, among others. The first film, The Secret Life of Pets, was released on July 8, 2016 and received positive reviews from critics. The second film, The Secret Life of Pets 2, was released on June 7, 2019 in the US and received mixed reviews from critics. The series has grossed $1.3 billion so far.
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.
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.
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.