2016 has given Illumination Entertainment another hit animated franchise in The Secret Life of Pets, to go along with the studio’s crown jewel: the Despicable Me and Minions films. The Minions took center stage in 2015 with their own spinoff; itself, a huge commercial success and Illumination’s highest-grossing animated feature to date (with a $1.16 billion worldwide gross). In 2017, it will be Gru’s turn to step back into the spotlight with his own threequel, in the form of Despicable Me 3.

The third Despicable Me movie features Despicable Me 1 & 2 director Pierre Coffin back working behind the camera, with Kyle Balda (Minions) and Despicable Me franchise character designer Eric Guillon as his co-directors. The story this time around (as scripted by Despicable Me 1 & 2 screenwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul) pits Gru - again voiced by Steve Carell - against former 1980s child star-turned supervillain Balthazar Bratt, as voiced by South Park co-creator Trey Parker. What the newly-released Despicable Me 3 trailer doesn’t reveal, however, is that Gru might have an even bigger problem to deal with than Balthazar: the return of Drew, his long-lost twin brother (who, unlike Gru, has quite a good deal of hair).

Illumination will be premiering the Despicable Me 3 trailer in theaters soon - attached to prints of the studio’s second original feature-length offering of 2016, in the form of this month’s animated musical Sing. The studio has released the trailer online ahead of then (see the video above), for those who could use more Gru in their lives, sooner than later.

The first Despicable Me 3 trailer focuses primarily on introducing Balthazar and the opportunities that he provides for 1980s jokes - between his mullet hairdo, ’80s-tastic purple suit (complete with shoulder-pads), gadgets in the forms of things like the Rubik’s Cube and preference for ’80s pop tunes like (naturally) Michael Jackson’s “Bad”. This trailer also indicates that Gru will be teaming up with his wife Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), who debuted in Despicable Me 2, during his new adventure. This could give rise to some fun buddy antics - to freshen up the otherwise customary Despicable Me-style slapstick and shenanigans featured in the trailer.

Although the new trailer doesn’t touch on it, the subplot involving Drew in Despicable Me 3 will presumably serve as a source of personal drama for Gru in the film. That story thread should thus serve a similar function to the subplot about Gru’s reluctance to become a step-father to the orphans Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Nev Scharrel) and Edith (Dana Gaier) in the first Despicable Me; as well as the plot thread about Gru’s efforts to date around and find a mother to help raise his three adopted daughters in Despicable Me 2. Despicable Me 3 doesn’t look to change-up the formula for the previous two installments very much in that regard, but as the saying goes: if it ain’t broke (and the box office returns for Despicable Me 1&2 and Minions suggest that most filmgoers feel that it’s not), then don’t fix it.

Source: Illumination Entertainment

  • Despicable Me 3 Release Date: 2017-06-30