Despicable Me debuted all the way back in 2010 and served as the first feature film from fledgeling animation studio Illumination Entertainment (now simply known as Illumination).
Of course, they would go on to create The Secret Life of Pets, Sing, and Minions (which is the fifth highest-grossing animated film of all-time, having earned over $1.1 billion). But Despicable Me is where it all started for Illumination — before Despicable Me 2 and Despicable Me 3 (obviously) — and it's now available to stream on Netflix.
The streaming service recently added the animated classic and it quickly climbed the ranks to become the most-viewed content on the platform — removing the popular Tiger King docuseries from the #1 spot (in the United States) after 25 days on top (though, it's only been moved down by one place).
Steve Carell stars as the voice of a supervillain, named Gru, who adopts three girls (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher) for the purpose of being pawns in a nefarious heist against, Vector, a rival of his (voiced by Jason Segel). However, despite his villainous intentions, Gru grows increasingly attached to the girls and becomes all the better for it.
A prequel to Despicable Me, called Minions: The Rise of Gru, was meant to arrive in theatres in July of this year. However, it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now it's set to arrive in theatres on July 2nd, 2021 (a whole year later)! Find out more on that here.
When the Vicious 6 oust their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Oscar® winner Alan Arkin), Gru interviews to become their newest member. It doesn’t go well (to say the least), and only gets worse after Gru outsmarts them and suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. On the run, Gru will turn to an unlikely source for guidance, Wild Knuckles himself, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is set to arrive in theatres on July 2nd, 2021.