'Despicable Me' spinoff 'Minions: The Rise of Gru' to hit the big screen on July 1, sequel to release in 2024

Los Angeles: The release date of the animated movie, 'Despicable Me 4', has been announced. The film, which will see Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Miranda Cosgrove and Steve Coogan returning to their parts, will arrive in cinemas on July 3, 2024, reports 'Variety'.

The next chapter of the animated, family-friendly series about a reformed super-villain and his army of yellow Minions, will see Chris Renaud's return as director along with Patrick Delage as co-director for the script penned by Mike White.

Renaud directed the first two 'Despicable Me' movies. The film will be produced jointly by Universal Pictures and Illumination. Before the release of 'Despicable Me 4', Illumination and Universal will release an original animated film about a family of ducks, titled 'Migration', on June 30, 2023.

Benjamin Renner will direct 'Migration', which is written by White and produced by Illumination founder Chris Meledandri. Apart from this, the second 'Despicable Me' spinoff, 'Minions: The Rise of Gru', is set to hit theatres on July 1 after being delayed by two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The movie will trace Gru's childhood exploits and his attempts to join a supervillain team called Vicious 6. In addition to Carell and Coffin, the voice cast includes Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews and Alan Arkin.