Steve Carell’s latest animated project, Despicable Me 4, has garnered an impressive box-office collection that opens doors for another project, set to release in the near future. Illumination Entertainment, who is currently on hot heels with the newly released animated movie, has announced the release of Minions 3.
However, this major update might turn out to be a huge mistake as it would risk franchise fatigue and potentially push away its dedicated fandom.
Minions 3‘s Release Date Has Been Announced
The Minions franchise has cemented itself as a strong brand which began as part of the Despicable Me series. Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures introduced the Minions in 2010’s Despicable Me which follows Steve Carell‘s Gru story who adopts three orphaned girls, which turns him into a loving father.
The movie introduced the yellow creatures as Gru’s loyal henchmen, whose comedic charms have captivated audiences’ attention. The movie garnered significant public attention, earning positive reviews from critics.
Its immense success led the company to release several sequels, which also elevated the Minions’ popularity.
Thanks to the same, the Minions franchise was formed, focusing on the small yellow creatures, having seen two films released thus far: Minions (2015) and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022). While the 2015 movie focused on their origin, the 2022 movie focuses on young Gru’s life with Minions by his side.
And now, Minions 3 has officially been announced following the massive success of Despicable Me 4. The group of mischievous yellow creatures will be back in theatres on June 30, 2027, with Oscar nominee Pierre Coffin set to return to helm the movie. He has also provided the voice for the creatures since their film debut in the 2010 movie.
Although this news has surely excited everyone, there are concerns that the studio might be overextending the popular franchise with spin-offs and sequels.
Is Minions 3‘s Update a Good News?
The franchise’s success has been phenomenal, which has extended its content to spin-offs, sequels, and loads of merch. However, the announcement of Minions 3’s release quickly after the impeccable box-office results from Despicable Me 4 has raised eyebrows.
As DiscussingFilm shared the news on their X account, fans and critics were quick to respond, raising concerns that the studio is milking the franchise dry, which might have adverse effects on its dedicated fanbase.
Check out the tweets here.
While the fourth installment in the popular franchise has performed admirably, it might not stay the same if the franchise continues to overextend it. If one is thinking about whether a fifth installment is in the studio’s plans, filmmaker Chris Renaud has already shared the possibility of Universal moving on with a good story.
Although, there is yet time for the release of Minions 3, Illumination Entertainment has been focusing much on the Despicable Me franchise. Apart from this, the studio has been quite limited in exploring another story as they have released only two Sing movies and two The Secret Life of Pets films.
Even though both these movies garnered significant success, they failed to reach the heights of the Despicable Me franchise. The studio’s continuous focus on a single entity is enough to mitigate the risk of franchise fatigue.
Despicable Me 4 is running in theatres now.