Directed by – Chris Renaud
Written by
Mike White
Ken Daurio
Produced by
Chris Meledandri
Brett Hoffman
Starring
Steve Carell
Kristen Wiig
Pierre Coffin
Joey King
Miranda Cosgrove
Stephen Colbert
Sofía Vergara
Will Ferrell
Edited by – Tiffany Hillkurtz
Music by
Heitor Pereira (score)
Pharrell Williams (songs and themes)
Production companies
Universal Pictures
llumination
Distributed by – Universal Pictures
Release dates
June 9, 2024 (Jazz at Lincoln Center)
July 3, 2024 (United States)
Running time – 95 minutes
Country – United States
Language – English
Budget – $100 million
Box office – $963.3 million
Despicable Me 4 is an animated superhero action-comedy film that is the fourth entry in the Despicable Me film series, the sixth overall in the franchise, and the follow-up to 2017’s Despicable Me 3. The movie was released on July 3, 2024.
Plot
At a class reunion at Lycée Pas Bon, undercover Anti-Villain League (AVL) agent Felonious Gru meets Maxime Le Mal, a former classmate who has a grudge against Gru for “stealing” his talent show performance. Gru has Maxime detained by the AVL when he reveals he has cockroach features at the ceremony. Maxime escapes jail with his lover Valentina and displays his new rifle that turns people into cockroach hybrids, which he hopes to use on Gru Jr., who hates his father.
Silas Ramsbottom meets the Gru family days later to notify them that Maxime has fled and the AVL must move them to a safe home in another town under new identities. The AVL takes the Minions in, and Silas chooses five to be superpowered under a new effort named the Mega Minions, but the initiative is cancelled when the group accidentally damages a neighbouring city.
Gru and his family meet the Prescotts and their teenage daughter Poppy in their new wealthy neighbourhood. Poppy, an aspiring villain, remembers Gru from his villainous past and threatens to break his disguise unless he helps her abduct Lycée Pas Bon’s honey badger mascot Lenny. Gru and Poppy abduct Lenny from school without realising his collar has a tracker. Utilising Lenny’s collar, school administrator Übelschlecht locates Gru via security camera video and calls Maxime.
The following day, Principal Übelschlecht questions the girls about Gru at the safe house while Gru and Lucy are at tennis practice. Gru and Lucy battle Übelschlecht when Margo alerts them to return home. The AVL calls the Mega Minions out of retirement to stop Maxime when Lucy notifies them. In the chaos, Maxime and Valentina see Gru Jr. outside the home and grab him.
Gru confronts Maxime in a nearby building with Poppy and fights him off when Maxime reveals he has turned Gru Jr. into a human-cockroach hybrid. Gru’s son assaults Maxime when Gru’s words liberate him from indoctrination. Maxime collapses when Gru punches him, and the Mega Minions soon come to squish him.
Gru, his family, and the Minions return home, where Dr. Nefario restores Gru Jr.’s metamorphosis. Gru sees Maxime in jail later to reconcile. The duo then performs “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” for AVL inmates with former villains.
Cast
Steve Carell – Felonius Gru
Kristen Wiig – Lucy Wilde
Will Ferrell – Maxime Le Mal
Miranda Cosgrove – Margo Gru
Dana Gaier – Edith Gru
Madison Polan – Agnes Gru
Steve Coogan – Silas Ramsbottom
Pierre Coffin – Ron, Phil, Ralph, and the rest of the Minions
Chris Renaud – Übelschlecht and the additional Minions
Tara Strong – Gru Jr.
Joey King – Poppy Prescott
Sofía Vergara – Valentina
Frank Welker – Lucky the Goat
Stephen Colbert – Perry Prescott
Chloe Fineman – Patsy Prescott
Romesh Ranganathan – Dr. Nefario
Laraine Newman – Melora
Brad Ableson – Sensei O’Sullivan
John DiMaggio – Karl the Bus Driver
Production
In September 2017, Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri said that a fourth Despicable Me film is in development. On February 18, 2022, the release date was set on July 3, 2024.
In March 2024, Heitor Pereira was announced to be composing the film’s score, returning from the previous installments. Pharrell Williams was also confirmed to be returning to co-compose the score with Pereira as well as to write new songs.
On May 8, Williams previewed a 30-second snippet of his original song “Double Life” for the film on his YouTube channel. On June 14, 2024, Williams released the song as the first single from the Despicable Me 4 soundtrack. The song has been interpreted as a diss track aimed at Canadian rapper Drake. Writing for Uproxx, Derrick Rossignol observed that “the tune isn’t as general and movie-agnostic as something like “Happy,” but it has a great groove, and that Gru refrain is actually catchy as h—. This probably won’t be a world-changing single like “Happy,” but it’s in the upper tier of kids movie soundtrack fare.” The original soundtrack was released on June 27, 2024, by Back Lot Music.
Release
Despicable Me 4 premiered at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on June 9, 2024, and made its French premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 13. The film was theatrically released in Australia on June 20, and in the United States on July 3.
As part of Universal’s long-term contract with Netflix, the picture will premiere on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-tv window, then move to Netflix for the following ten and back to Peacock for the last four.
Despicable Me 4 was released digitally on September 10, 2024, and will be available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 24th. Physical editions include behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, leisure activities, a summary of the Despicable Me franchise’s antagonists, and two short films: Game Over and Over and Benny’s Birthday.
Reception
According to the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 83 reviewers’ reviews are favorable, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site’s verdict is this: “Fast paced and teeming with slapstick gags, Despicable Me 4 is as overstuffed as a piñata but full of enough candy to give audiences an enjoyable sugar rush.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the picture a 50 out of 100 rating based on 28 reviewers, indicating “mixed or average” reviews. Cinema Score surveyed audiences, and the picture had an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale.
Variety acknowledged that the picture is enjoyable, but found the storyline packed with unnecessary characters: “One thing is absolutely certain: We haven’t seen the last of these characters, even if we might prefer that a few of them sit out the next sequel — like the Mega Minions, who aren’t nearly as cute as they sound.”A similar assessment may be seen in Screen Rant or The Hollywood Reporter, which notes, for example, the villain’s undeveloped role in the middle of the multiple story lines: “Running a brisk 95 minutes, Despicable Me 4 doesn’t leave enough time for Maxime to enact his plans in a way that packs an emotional punch.
“ABC News commented: “Should a review of a “Despicable Me” film be a critical study or just a list of the humorous things the Minions do in it? As much as I believe in the significance of film critique, I have a feeling that even the best points of view would be deconstructed as quickly as a Minion can shout “Bello!”
Trivia
- This is the first Illumination franchise to expand into a quadrilogy.
- The sixth Illumination picture will be released in July, after Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, and Minions: The Rise of Gru.
- This is also the fourth installment in the Despicable Me franchise to be released in July, after Minions: The Rise of Gru.
- This is Illumination’s second picture to be released on July 3, after Despicable Me 2.
- This is the eleventh Illumination film filmed in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, after Sing 2.
- This is also the fourth Despicable Me film filmed in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, after Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, and Minions.
- The Anchorman film series stars Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, and Will Ferrell.
- Steve Carell and Joey King costarred in the 2008 Blue Sky Studios film Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
Despicable Me 4 Earnings
Gru and the Minions continue to win hearts everywhere with Despicable Me 4. The animated feature has once again earned decent numbers on its eighteenth weekend. The movie was made on a reported budget of $100 million and has grossed a lot more than that. However, the $1 billion mark seems to be challenging to achieve for the Illumination creation. Scroll below for the deets.
According to trade expert Luiz Fernando’s analysis, Despicable Me 4 continues to do well at the foreign box office. According to that, the film grossed a healthy $1.4 million in its eighteenth weekend abroad. It dropped just 33.3% from the previous weekend, totaling $602.4 million across 84 markets. The picture was released in early July, before Deadpool and Wolverine. It performed very well and continues to do so.
