After being shelved indefinitely due to the novel coronvirus pandemic, Minions: The Rise of Gru finally has a new release date. Unfortunately for fans excited to see the highly-anticipated Despicable Me spinoff, that new date isn’t until next year. Like several other movies have done in the wake of this global crisis, Minions 2 has been sent off to 2021, which is shaping up to be an absolutely massive year for movies, thanks to all of the 2020 delays. Minions: The Rise of Gru is now set to arrive in theaters on July 2, 2021, exactly one year after its original date.
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While there is some optimism that things will get back to normal by the time July rolls around, Illumination and Universal realized that the team behind Minions 2 wouldn’t be able to get it finished on time. There was still work being done when the period of quarantine and social distancing began, keeping the animators from completing the film. Rather than delay it until later in the year, the studio decided it was best to keep the prime July slot and simply wait until next summer.
The new Minions movie is now the second major film from Universal to move from 2020 to 2021 amid coronavirus concerns. Fast & Furious 9 was booted to next year, abandoning its May release date. It won’t be surprising to see even more films follow suit.
“In response to the severity of the situation in France, we are temporarily closing our Illumination Mac Guff studio in Paris,” Illumination Founder and CEO Chris Meledandri said in a statement earlier this month. “With this decision we are abiding by the French Government’s guidelines and doing everything possible to slow the spread of the virus as we care for our artists and their families. This means we will be unable to finish MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU in time for our planned global release in late June and early July. While we all grapple with the enormity of this crisis, we must put the safety and protection of our employees above all. We look forward to finding a new release date for the return of Gru and the Minions.”
The July 3, 2021 release date originally belonged to Illumination’s Sing 2, which will now arrive on December 22, 2021.
