Mar 19, 2020

"Minions: Rise of the Gru" release was pulled after the studio was unable to complete the film

The Minions have finally met the ultimate villain: coronavirus.

Due to the global pandemic, Universal Pictures has pulled the July 3rd release date for Illumination's Minions: The Rise of Gru. Even if movie theaters re-open by that time, the studio producing the film has revealed that they can't finish the film in time for its release.

While Illumination Entertainment is an American company, the animation for its films is produced at Paris-based subsidiary Illumination Mac Guff. That studio has been temporarily closed amidst a strict nationwide lockdown throughout France.

A new release date has not been scheduled at this time.

Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment, released the following statement this afternoon:

Cancelling the release of the Minions sequel is a big blow for Universal, which expected the title to be one of its biggest films of the year. Despicable Me is already the highest-grossing animation franchise in history, bringing in over $3.7 billion at the global box office. The first Minions outperformed all the Despicable Me installments with a $1.16 billion cume, and currently stands as the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film of all time.

Kyle Balda, who co-directed Minions and Despicable Me 3, is lead director on the upcoming film, with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val serving as co-directors.