Minions Sequel Gets an Official Title

For almost a decade, the Despicable Me franchise has charmed the hearts of viewers of all ages -- and it sounds like it will soon do so again. Universal and Illumination have officially revealed the title for the franchise's second Minions spinoff film (via Deadline), which will be called Minions: The Rise of Gru. The film is expected to be released on July 3, 2020.

Details surrounding the film are still largely unknown, although the Rise of Gru subtitle just might provide some context clues. It certainly sounds like the film could be an origin story of sorts for Gru (Steve Carell), the supervillain who partners with the Minions in the franchise's present-day. As fans will remember, Gru's childhood factored into the first Minions spinoff in a surprising way, even as the film saw the titular yellow creatures partnering with a different supervillain. No casting or plot announcements are known at this time.

The first Minions spinoff debuted in July of 2015 and became the franchise's first film to gross over $1 billion at the box office, with a grand total of $1.16 billion. 2017's Despicable Me 3 also performed similarly at the box office, with the entire franchise scoring over $3.7 billion worldwide (as well as an avalanche of Facebook memes).

The Rise of Gru will be entering into a pretty stacked July 4th season in 2020, with Ryan Reynolds' Free Guy opening the same day, and Top Gun: Maverick and In the Heights set to debut the week before. The week after will see the premiere of the latest Ghostbusters and Purge movies.

What do you think of Minions 2 getting an official subtitle? Are you excited to see The Rise of Gru? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

As mentioned above, Minions: The Rise of Gru will debut on July 3, 2020.