In the first Despicable Me movie in seven years, Gru, the world's favourite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain League agent, returns for what's being described as an exciting, bold new era of Minions mayhem in Illumination's Despicable Me 4.
Following 2022's Minions: The Rise of Gru, which earned almost $1 billion worldwide, the biggest global animated franchise in history now begins a new chapter as Gru (Steve Carell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and their girls - Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Madison Polan) - welcome a new member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad.
Gru will face a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Sofia Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run.
Despicable Me 4 features new characters voiced by Joey King (Bullet Train), Stephen Colbert (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), and Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live). Pierre Coffin returns as the iconic voice of the Minions and Steve Coogan reprises his role as Silas Ramsbottom.
Packed with non-stop action and filled with Illumination's signature subversive humour, Despicable Me 4 is directed by a co-creator of the Minions, Oscar-nominee Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets), and is produced by Illumination's founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and veteran producer Brett Hoffman (The Super Mario Bros. Movie).
The movie is co-directed by Patrick Delage (who was the animation director for Sing 2 and The Secret Life of Pets 2), while the screenplay was penned by the Emmy-winning creator of White Lotus, Mike White, and the veteran writer of every Despicable Me film, Ken Daurio.
"It's a continuation of the story," Carell teased in a 2022 interview. "Gru and Lucy are married; they're a family at this point. It's the next step in their world with the Anti-Villain League and how their kids are included in the whole process."
"It's the most logical next step in the continuation of their story as a family together."
The Despicable Me franchise, produced by Illumination Entertainment, follows the transformation of Gru from a supervillain to a loving adoptive father. In the first film, Gru adopted three orphaned girls, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, while attempting to steal the moon.
Despicable Me 2 saw Gru recruited by the Anti-Villain League to stop a new threat, forming a romantic connection with agent Lucy Wilde. In Despicable Me 3, Gru met his twin brother, Dru, and confronted a new villain, Balthazar Bratt. The spin-off Minions franchise, meanwhile, delved into the origins of the lovable yellow creatures and even explored Gru's childhood.
Despicable Me 4 arrives in theaters on July 3.