| Despicable Me 4 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Chris Renaud |
| Written by | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Edited by | Tiffany Hillkurtz |
| Music by | Heitor Pereira |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures[1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 94 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $97 million[3] |
| Box office | $972 million[4][5] |
Despicable Me 4 is a 2024 American animatedcomedy film directed byChris Renaud and written byMike White andKen Daurio. Produced byIllumination and distributed byUniversal Pictures, it is the sequel toDespicable Me 3 (2017) and the sixth film in theDespicable Me franchise. The film stars the voices ofSteve Carell,Kristen Wiig,Pierre Coffin,Joey King,Miranda Cosgrove,Stephen Colbert,Sofía Vergara, andWill Ferrell. The film sees reformed supervillain and secret agentGru temporarily relocate his family to a safe house when his old rival Maxime Le Mal seeks revenge. Subplots deal with Gru's family adjusting to their new lives, teenage neighbor Poppy Prescott trying to follow in Gru's footsteps, and a group of Gru'sMinions becoming superheroes known as the Mega Minions.
Development on a fourth mainDespicable Me film began in September 2017. It was officially confirmed in February 2022, with Renaud, Delage, and White attached as director, co-director, and writer, respectively. Production was underway by June 2022. Most of the main voice cast was announced in January 2024, with Hoffman and Daurio revealed as co-producer and co-writer, respectively.Heitor Pereira andPharrell Williams returned from previous installments to compose the score and write original songs and themes, respectively.
Despicable Me 4 debuted at theJazz at Lincoln Center in New York on June 9, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 3. Despite mixed reviews, the film continued the franchise's streak of box-office successes, grossing $972 million worldwide against a budget of $100 million, making it thefourth-highest-grossing film of 2024.
Former supervillain and undercover Anti-Villain League (AVL) AgentGru attends a class reunion at hisalma mater Lycée Pas Bon where he reunites with Maxime Le Mal, a former classmate of his who has a feud with Gru who he believes stole his talent show act. During the ceremony, Maxime reveals he has enhanced himself with cockroach body parts, but Gru has him arrested by the AVL. Helped by his girlfriend Valentina, Maxime escapes prison to get revenge on Gru and reveals his new invention: a gun that transforms people into cockroach hybrids, which he plans to use specifically on Gru's infant son Gru Jr.
Days later, Silas Ramsbottom, who has come out of retirement, visits the Gru household to inform them that Maxime has escaped and that the AVL will have to temporarily relocate the family to a safe house in another town under new identities. Meanwhile, the AVL takes in most of the Minions, and Silas selects five of them to be augmented withsuperpowers under a new initiative called the Mega Minions. However, the initiative is called off after the group unintentionally causes significant collateral damage in a nearby city.
In their new well-off residential town, Gru and his family meet their new neighbors, the Prescotts, and their teenage daughter Poppy. Poppy, an aspiring villain, recognizes Gru from his former villainous career and threatens to blow his cover unless he helps her pull a heist to steal Lycée Pas Bon'shoney badger mascot Lenny. With the help of two Minions and Gru Jr., they successfully steal Lenny from the school, unaware that Lenny's collar contains a tracker device. The school's principal Übelschlecht identifies Gru via security camera footage and contacts Maxime to inform him about Gru's whereabouts.
The next day, while Gru and Lucy are away at tennis practice with Poppy's parents Perry and Patsy, leaving Poppy to watch over the girls and Gru Jr., Übelschlecht visits the safe house to interrogate them about Gru, which makes Poppy promptly leave with Lenny. Gru and Lucy then rush back home after being alerted by Margo and they fight Übelschlecht. Lucy also signals the AVL who calls the Mega Minions out of retirement to stop Maxime. In the havoc, however, Gru Jr. leaves the house and is spotted by Maxime and Valentina, who kidnap him. Lucy and the girls stay behind to handle Übelschlecht as Gru decides to save his son with help from Poppy.
Using a flying car, the pair chase after the ship, with Poppy getting Gru onto the ship. He hijacks the ship, causing it to crash land onto a building under construction. Maxime reveals he has brainwashed and turned Gru Jr. into a human-cockroach hybrid and they fight Gru off. Gru is wounded, but his encouraging words to his son manage to break Gru Jr. free from his brainwashing state and he attacks Maxime instead. Gru punches Maxime off the building to the ground, where he is further harmed by the Mega Minions who arrive in turn, the AVL then arrest Maxime and Valentina.
Reunited with Lucy and the girls, Gru Jr. finally calls Gru "Dada" and the family returns to their original home, where Dr. Nefario reverses Gru Jr.'s transformation. Sometime later, Gru visits Maxime in an AVL prison to talk and settle their differences. The former rivals then put on a performance of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" for the prisoners, which include villains from the past, while Poppy is accepted at Lycée Pas Bon.
Additionally,John DiMaggio, who previously voiced one of the former henchmen of Wild Knuckles inMinions: The Rise of Gru (2022) and a Scoutmaster in theMinion Scouts animated short, voices Karl, the angry bus driver who works for the AVL transporting the remaining Minions to their new destination.Laraine Newman voices Melora, a salon customer whose hair was accidentally burned by Lucy and seeks revenge, Brad Ableson voices Sensei O'Sullivan, Agnes and Edith's karate teacher,[8] andRomesh Ranganathan voices Dr. Nefario, Gru's elderly scientist and assistant. Ranganathan replaces Nefario's long-time voice actor,Russell Brand.[6][9]
Cameos at the end of the film include several returning villains like Vector, El Macho, and Balthazar Bratt withJason Segel,Benjamin Bratt, andTrey Parker respectively reprising their roles through archive audio. Silent cameos include Gru's neighbor, Fred McDade, his mother Marlena, and his twin brother Dru, as well as several villains from the previous installments of the franchise including Vector's father Mr. Perkins, Scarlet and Herb Overkill, and the surviving members of the Vicious 6.[citation needed]
Development onDespicable Me 4 began in September 2017, with longtimeDespicable Me and Illumination writersCinco Paul and Ken Daurio writing early drafts of the script.[10] The film was officially confirmed in February 2022, with veteranDespicable Me directorChris Renaud, Patrick Delage, andMike White attached as director, co-director, and writer, respectively, and a July 3, 2024, release date announced.[11][12] Production was underway by June 2022, withSteve Carell starting his voice recording after a "couple of sessions".[13] Most of the production was done during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[14] In January 2024, it was announced thatThe Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) executive producer Brett Hoffman and Daurio had been added as co-producer and co-writer, respectively.[15]
White wrote the screenplay ofDespicable Me 4 with Daurio, who joined him later in the production.[16] The filmmakers aimed to delve deeper into multiple elements to improve the story's stability, sinceMinions: The Rise of Gru was delayed to July 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Renaud and White had ideas for the narrative including Gru and his family being forced into witness protection and Gru's rogue rival from high school; they were intended to foster a connection with the audience, depending on each subplot focus.[17][18]
An abandoned Mega Minions idea fromDespicable Me 2 (2013) was resurrected forDespicable Me 4. The filmmakers researched initial concepts of the idea,[19] taking inspiration from theMarvel Comics teamFantastic Four and thePixar filmThe Incredibles (2004).[20][21] To make the Mega Minions unique from the majority of media featuring superheroes, Renaud incorporated the Minions' characteristics—including their incompetence—into the Mega Minions.[16]
In January 2024, it was announced that Carell,Kristen Wiig,Miranda Cosgrove,Dana Gaier,Pierre Coffin, andSteve Coogan would return to reprise their respective roles as Gru, Lucy Wilde, Margo, Edith, the Minions, and Silas Ramsbottom, whileWill Ferrell,Joey King,Sofía Vergara,Stephen Colbert,Chloe Fineman, and Madison Polan (replacing Nev Scharrel who in turn replacedElsie Fisher) would join the voice cast, respectively voicing Maxime Le Mal, Poppy Prescott, Valentina, Perry Prescott, Patsy Prescott, and Agnes.[22][23]
According to Renaud, some of the characters who appeared in previous films had theircharacter rigs and surfaces updated for this film. Fred McDade, who had not appeared since thesecond film, was recreated from scratch, as his character model was too old. The sequence where Poppy plays with an arcade machine originally started out as an animation test for the character, but the filmmakers liked the sequence so much that it was added to the final cut of the film.[14]
In March 2024,Heitor Pereira was announced to be composing the film's score, returning from the previous installments.[24]Pharrell Williams was also confirmed to be returning to co-compose the score with Pereira as well as to write new songs.[25] The original soundtrack was released on June 27, 2024, by Back Lot Music.[26]
The first trailer for the film was released on January 28, 2024, during the2023–24 NFL playoff championship games.[27] The trailer features the songs "Sweet Child O' Mine" byGuns N' Roses and "Maneater" byHall & Oates, as well as in television showings, "Through the Fire and Flames" byDragonForce.CBR reported that the trailer showcased "the struggles of welcoming in a new member of the Gru family" and included the debut of Will Ferrell's Maxime Le Mal.[22]Screen Rant's Brennan Klein observed that Gru's tumultuous relationship with his son, Gru Jr., contrasted with the good relationship with his adopted daughters.[28] An additional trailer was revealed on February 11 duringSuper Bowl LVIII, being narrated byJon Hamm, who previously voiced Herb Overkill in the 2015 spin-off filmMinions, and featuring cameos by Ferrell and Steve Carell. Ryan Gajewski ofThe Hollywood Reporter said the trailer appeared to "tout the benefits of modern technology but feature strange images supposedly generated byAI," enjoying theRenaissance-era-inspired poses of Ferrell and Carell in the trailer.[29] On April 10, atCinemaCon, Universal displayed a clip of Gru and Poppy trying to steal ahoney badger.[30] Brennan Kline ofScreen Rant appreciated that the clip solidified the "important element" of Gru's domestic family man status in the sequel.[31]
The second trailer was released on May 7, 2024.[32] Writing forTheWrap, Drew Taylor called the trailer "Minions-heavy" and pointed out one of Pharrell Williams' new original songs featured in the trailer.[33]Collider noted the "devastating consequences" of enlisting a small group of Minion volunteers for an experiment that gave themsuperpowers. Journalist Diego Peralta pointed out a sequence in which one of the super-powered minions destroys a part of their base with laser vision and said that villains Maxime and Valentina "are more dangerous than any threat Gru has faced before".[34]
On June 8, 2024, Illumination released a parody teaser for the film in which Steve Carell announces theMegaverse, a parody of shared universes such as theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) andDC Extended Universe (DCU), by claiming that Illumination would release 100 years' worth of films, television series, and stage productions starring the Mega Minions.[35] Illumination also published a website for theMegaverse.[36] Some of the fake productions listed on the site includeMega Minions:The Tax Write-Off and an untitledMega Minions spin-off series with a "story to be determined based on rigorous market testing and ad hoc decision-making."[36] The stunt referenced several Hollywood controversies, such as the cancellation ofWarner Bros. films likeBatgirl,Scoob! Holiday Haunt andCoyote vs. Acme and the failure of the 2022 DCEU filmBlack Adam, as well as the mixed reception toDisney'slive-action remakes of their classic animated films and several recent MCU productions, such asAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania andSecret Invasion.[35]
Despicable Me 4 debuted at theJazz at Lincoln Center inNew York City on June 9, 2024,[37] followed by a premiere on June 13, at theAnnecy International Animation Film Festival.[38] The film was released in the United States on July 3.[11]
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment releasedDespicable Me 4 fordigital download on September 10, 2024, and on4K Ultra HD Blu-ray,Blu-ray, andDVD on September 24. Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, recreational activities, an overview of the franchise's adversaries, and two short films—Game Over and Over andBenny's Birthday.[39]
The film was made available to stream onNBCUniversal'sPeacock streaming service on October 31, 2024.[40] As part of an 18-month deal withNetflix for animated films from Universal, the film is streaming on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten beginning on February 28, 2025.[41][42][43]
Despicable Me 4 grossed $361 million in the United States and Canada, and $611 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $972 million.[4][5]Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $370 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations and other costs; box office grosses, television and streaming, and home media revenues, makingDespicable Me 4 the fourth-most profitable film of 2024.[44]
In the United States and Canada,Despicable Me 4 was projected to gross $100–125 million from 4,030 theaters in its five-day opening weekend.[45][46] The film made $27 million on its first day and $20.4 million on its second.[47][48] It went on to debut to $75 million over the traditional three-day weekend, along with a total five-day gross of $122.6 million, topping the box office.[49] The film made $43.6 million the following weekend, remaining in first place.[50] In its third weekend the film made $24.4 million, finishing in second behind newcomer and Universal's ownTwisters, and then made $14.6 million in its fourth weekend, finishing in third behindTwisters andDeadpool & Wolverine.[51][52]
Internationally the film opened in different countries with different dates, with Australia being the earliest country to release it. The film opened big in multiple countries, and in some it settled franchise records, though in many countries that it opened prior to its US release date, the film opened second behindInside Out 2, slowing its international climb.[53]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 56% of 164 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Fast paced and teeming with slapstick gags,Despicable Me 4 is as overstuffed as a piñata but full of enough candy to give audiences an enjoyable sugar rush."[54]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[55] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale (same as the first two films), while those surveyed byPostTrak gave the film an 82% positive score, with 63% saying they would definitely recommend it.[48]
Variety admitted the film is entertaining but found the plot overcrowded with useless characters: "One thing is absolutely certain: We haven't seen the last of these characters, even if we might prefer that a few of them sit out the next sequel—like the Mega Minions, who aren't nearly as cute as they sound."[56] A similar appraisal can be found inScreen Rant,[57] as well as inThe Hollywood Reporter, observing, for example, the underdeveloped role of the villain in the midst of the various plot lines: "Running a brisk 95 minutes,Despicable Me 4 doesn't leave enough time for Maxime to enact his plans in a way that packs an emotional punch."[58]ABC News commented: "Should a review of a 'Despicable Me' movie be a thoughtful analysis or just a list of the funny stuff the Minions do in it? As much as I might believe in the value of film criticism, I kind of suspect that even the finest points of assessment would be dismantled about as fast as a Minion can say 'Bello!'"[59]
Despicable Me 4's theme song "Double Life" received a nomination forOriginal Song in an Animated Film at the15th Hollywood Music in Media Awards.[60] Habib Louati wonOutstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production at the52nd Annie Awards.[61] The film was nominated forBest Animated Film at the52nd Saturn Awards andBest Movie for Families at the2025 Movieguide Awards.[62][63][64] The film received four nominations at the2025 Kids' Choice Awards forFavorite Animated Movie, Favorite Male Voice From An Animated Movie for Carell and Ferrell, and Favorite Female Voice From An Animated Movie for Wiig but lost all three toInside Out 2 andDwayne Johnson andAuli’i Cravalho fromMoana 2.[65]
According to data from Showlabs,Despicable Me 4 ranked fourth on Netflix in the United States during the week of 24 February–2 March 2025.[66][67]
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