The next installment of the Despicable Me franchise is just around the corner with Minions: The Rise of Gru. Universal Pictures dropped the latest trailer for the upcoming CG-animated feature this week after delays that have taken forever.
The last Minions movie explored the creatures’ origins. This time, it’s the origin story of how Gru became the world’s greatest supervillains and how he met his iconic Minions, teased by the ending of the last movie.
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You can check out the new trailer for Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru below.
MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU EXPLORES THE BIRTH OF GRU AND THE MINIONS’ PARTNERSHIP
In The Rise of Gru, the young 12-year-old Gru is once again voiced by Academy Award-nominee Steve Carell. With the film set in 1970s suburbia, fans can quickly see that Gru was still plotting to take over the world from his basement even at 12 years old.
In the story, Gru meets Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto, who is the new Minion with the braces and a need to please everyone. Together, Gru and his new pals form an unexpected family and join forces, build their first lair, design weapons, and look to execute their earliest missions.
Gru later looks to join the Vicious 6, a team of supervillains who Gru worships after the team kicks out their original leader, Wild Knuckles (voiced by Alan Arkin). The Vicious 6 is not impressed by Gru, and then Gru unwittingly outsmarts and angers the Vicious 6. As a result, Gru is forced to go on the run, and the Minions look to save their master, and Gru must learn to accept help from his friends.
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New to the cast are the members of the Vicious 6: Belle Bottom, voiced by Taraji P. Henson, the leader of the gang; Jean Clawed, voiced by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who is aptly armed with a giant robotic claw; Nunchuck, voiced by Lucy Lawless, who hides deadly nunchucks under her nun’s habit; Svengeance, voiced by Dolph Lundgren, who is a Swedish roller-skating champion who uses spiked skates; and Stronghold, voiced by Danny Trejo, who is armed with giant iron hands.
Back for the film is Russell Brand as a young Dr. Nefario, one of Gru’s accomplices from the original 2010 movie. This time around, Dr. Nefario is a young, aspiring mad scientist. Also, Julie Andrews once again returns as Gru’s self-absorbed mother. Michelle Yeoh joins the cast as Master Chow, an acupuncturist who has expert kung fu skills. Of course, Pierre Coffin is back as the voice of the Minions.
The sequel is directed by Kyle Balda, who helmed Despicable Me 3 and Minions. Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val serve as co-directors. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Melendandri produces the film along with his longtime collaborators Janet Healy and Chris Renaud.
THE MINIONS ARE BACK
The latest trailer wasn’t very plot-heavy, but it did make clear that there will be lots of wacky comedy and antics to be had with Gru, Kevin Stuart, Bob, and company. Most of the trailer was framed around the Minions piloting a commercial jet with lots of comedic insanity.
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The Minion creatures were standouts for the Despicable Me series, so it’s plain to see why Universal and Illumination would give them their own spinoff. Their big-screen 2015 origin story was a box office smash, grossing $336 million domestic and $1.15 billion worldwide. Despicable Me 3, released two years later, was another hit grossing over $1 billion worldwide. So Rise of Gru looks poised to be another box office smash for Universal and Illumination.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is due out in theaters on July 1. What do you think of the news? Does this trailer have you as excited as ever for more of the yellow, pill-shaped goofballs, or is this franchise starting to lose its novelty? Let us know what you think about it on our Twitter account.
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SOURCE: Universal Pictures, YouTube
