Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise has persisted thanks in part to the Minions. The yellow mascots have done well enough to have their own spinoff franchise, and it seems like those chaotic demons could go basically anywhere…except live-action, if Chris Renaud has anything to say about it.
During a recent interview with Film Hounds Magazine, the Despicable Me 4 co-director was asked about a live-action remake. His personal answer was pretty clear: “God, I hope not. […] For me personally, not very appealing.” He doesn’t know if that’s even in the cards, but in his eyes, animation defines the characters and their world, and using real people wouldn’t be in their best interest. “[Animation] allows us to get away with what we get away with,” Renaud explained. “I think it just becomes something completely different if you do a live-action version. Locking a Minion in the vending machine, or blowing up Gru when he attacks Vector. These are really cartoon ideas, like what would have been in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.”
Disney’s led the charge on live-action remakes for years, but Illumination’s parent company Universal is getting in on the trend with one for How to Train Your Dragon in 2025 . It’s the only remake that Universal’s openly got on the docket, but you can imagine that tune would change if Dragon does particularly well and the folks in charge look at the heavy hitter animated franchises under its belt. If that ends up being case, the Despicable Me films may be one of the first up for selection; the series just crossed the $5 billion mark earlier this summer, so clearly there’s a lot of love for it.
Until then, you can look forward to (or fear) the third Minions spinoff releasing on June 30, 2027.
[via THR]
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