Minions: Rise of Gru Star Steve Carell Reveals Why He Loves the Despicable Me Franchise

Among the titles  that Universal Pictures hyped up during their CinemaCon panel tonight was the upcoming Minions: The Rise of Gru. The Illumination prequel film will be a major stepping stone to the Despicable Me franchise as it will see the return of voice actor Steve Carell to the titular villain role. Taking to the stage at the annual event, Carell introduced new footage from the animated feature, which has been stuck in release-date limbo for the past two years after initially being scheduled for a summer 2020 release. While present, Carell opened up about what's so appealing about the franchise to him, having now made four movies as the character.

"They're really good family movies," Carell said. "They're not condescending to children either, and that's one of the reasons I signed on to do these. When I read the first script, and I saw all the artwork, I was like, there's a little danger here, and kids love that – not too much, but just enough to be exciting and new and different, that had a different tone to it." He also revealed the origin of the Gru voice, adding: "The reason I actually do that voice is because it's the voice that made my kids laugh. when I went in before I did my first taping. I said, 'Hey, guys, (Gru voice) what do you think of this?' And they're like, 'That's the one, just do that.'"

Carell will be joined in the Minions sequel by two former collaborators from the franchise, Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario and Julie Andrews as Marlena, Gru's mother. Newcomers joining the film's voice cast include Taraji P. Henson as cool and confident leader Belle Bottom, Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jean Clawed, Lucy Lawless as Nunchuck, Dolph Lundgren as Svengeance and Danny Trejo as Stronghold.  

Directed by franchise filmmaker Kyle Balda (Despicable Me 3, Minions), co-directed by Brad Ableson (The Simpsons) and Jonathan del Val (The Secret Life of Pets films), and once again featuring Pierre Coffin as the voice of the Minions, you can find the film in theaters this summer on July 1. Universal's official description for Minions: The Rise of Gru reads as follows:

"In the heart of the 1970s, amid a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru is growing up in the suburbs. A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. Luckily, he gets some mayhem-making backup from his loyal followers, the Minions. Together, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto-a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please-deploy their skills as they and Gru build their first lair, experiment with their first weapons and pull off their first missions."

"When the Vicious 6 oust their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Oscar® winner Alan Arkin), Gru interviews to become their newest member. It doesn't go well (to say the least), and only gets worse after Gru outsmarts them and suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. On the run, Gru will turn to an unlikely source for guidance, Wild Knuckles himself, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends."