Despicable Me 2

Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination Entertainment, said in July 2010 that a sequel was in the works.[19] In June 2011, Universal Pictures announced that the sequel would be released on July 3, 2013.[20] Meledandri confirmed in February 2012 that they had started working on the film.[21]

In October 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Javier Bardem was negotiating to voice a villain, named El Macho,[22] but the negotiations failed.[23] By February 2012, Al Pacino had joined the cast to voice the villain.[24] In April 2012, producers confirmed that Steve Carell, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher were returning to reprise their roles. Kristen Wiig, who voiced Miss Hattie in the first film, voices Lucy Wilde, an agent of the Anti-Villain League who recruits Gru to track and take down a tough, Mexican villain named El Macho. Steve Coogan joined the cast as Silas Ramsbottom, the head of the Anti-Villain League.[4]

In May 2013, producers announced that Al Pacino had left the film over creative differences about how his character should come to life.[10][25] At the time of his departure, Pacino's character had already been fully voiced and animated.[26] Chris Renaud, co-director of the film, commented on Pacino's departure: "So we don't want an unhappy actor, and we want something that is well-realized on all sides. If you don't see eye to eye, sometimes it's easier to (part company) and move on from there."[25] Benjamin Bratt, who had already been considered before Pacino,[25] stepped in to voice Eduardo.[8] Chris Meledandri, producer of the film, admitted that he was not "aware of any of the major animated films of the last 15 years that has brought an actor in at such a late stage".[26] Due to the finished animation, Bratt had to match his timing exactly to the character's mouth movement.[27] Initially, during his five-day recording,[26] he tried to imitate Pacino's voice, but found it impossible, saying "no one can out-Al Pacino Al Pacino". He ended up only using Pacino as an inspiration, and resolved to go with his own interpretation of the character.[28] His work was commended by Variety, saying: "You'd never guess he wasn't the filmmakers' first choice."[15]

The animation was developed in Paris, France by Illumination Mac Guff using Autodesk Maya, over 400 to 650 artists worked on the sequel, in contrast of the team of 100 artists the first film required.

Some of the biggest challenges for the animation team was creating visual effects (such as water and jelly), which led to the crashing and replacement of some of the studio's drives.[29]

In March 2013, a blimp dressed to appear as a Minion, named "Despicablimp", in which Universal and Van Wagner Communications owns an American Blimp Corporation A-150 model, traveled through the United States for a 20,000-mile-long (32,000 km) tour to promote the film's release. As one of the largest airships in the world, it measured 165 feet (50 m) in length, 55 feet (17 m) in height,[55] and weighed 8,000 pounds (3.6 t).[56]

Universal Pictures partnered the film with licensing and promotional partners valued at an unprecedented $200—$250 million in the next three years.[57] One of the partners was McDonald's, which included in its Happy Meals various Minion toys, some of them unique to a specific country.[58] To take advantage of banana-loving Minions, Chiquita Brands International ran various sweepstakes,[58] and a Minion, voiced by Pierre Coffin, performed the song "Chiquita Banana" in the film.[17] Thinkway Toys released various toys and figures,[59] and Hasbro made special games.[58] Custom 3D glasses, modelled after the Minions' goggles, were released exclusively at Best Buy and Look3D, the producer of the glasses,[60] for use in RealD 3D theatres and with passive 3D home theatre systems.[61]

Despicable Me 2 was released in Digital HD on November 26, and on DVD and Blu-ray on December 10.[62] The DVD and Blu-ray combo pack features three "mini movies" titled Puppy, Panic in the Mailroom, and Training Wheels.[62]

Despicable Me 2 grossed $368 million in the United States and Canada, and $602.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $970.8 million.[3] Calculating in all expenses, Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film made a profit of $394.5 million.[63] With a budget of $76 million,[2] the film is the most profitable film in the 101-year history of Universal Pictures.[64]

In the United States and Canada, Despicable Me 2 is the sixth animated film to pass the $300 million mark.[65] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold more than 40 million tickets in the United States and Canada.[3] The film opened on Wednesday, July 3, 2013 at first place with $35.0 million (including $4.7 million from Tuesday night showings). The film dropped 30% to $24.5 million on Thursday,[66] marking the second-largest non-opening Thursday gross.[67] Over the five-day Independence Day weekend (Wednesday-to-Sunday, including Tuesday night showings), the film earned $143.1 million, the highest five-day start for an animated film. During the traditional three-day opening weekend (Friday-to-Sunday), the film earned $83.5 million.[68] The film remained in the first position at the box office for two consecutive weekends.[69]

In other territories, Despicable Me 2 is the fourth animated film to have grossed over $600 million. On its first weekend, Despicable Me 2 opened only in Australia with $6.66 million,[70] ahead of Monsters University (2013) which opened on the same weekend.[71] The film set an opening-day record in Latvia.[72] In total, it opened at number one in 67 territories,[73] and set opening-weekend records among animated films in Latin America, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam,[74] and Lebanon,[75] as well as opening-weekend records among all films in South Africa and Venezuela.[74] In Japan, it topped the box office ($3.3 million) beating Elsyium (2013).[76][77] The film remained in the first position at the box office for two consecutive weekends during July 2013.[78][79] The film's largest openings occurred in the United Kingdom ($22.5 million), China ($15.4 million), and Mexico ($14.9 million). In total earnings, its largest markets were the United Kingdom ($72.2 million), China ($53.0 million), and Mexico ($47.7 million).[80]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 75% with an average score of 6.70/10, based on 186 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despicable Me 2 offers plenty of eye-popping visual inventiveness and a number of big laughs."[81] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[82] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[83]

Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Steve Carell's Slavic inflections as Gru do the trick, as before. Wiig's clever hesitations and comic timing help save the day."[84] Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, saying "The new edition doesn't quite catch that inspired spark."[7] Stephen Whitty of The Star-Ledger gave the film three stars out of four, saying "Not only a fun cartoon but—that rare thing—a sequel which actually improves on the original."[85] Soren Anderson of The Seattle Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "It's fun. It's cheerful. It's lollipop colorful. Best of all, it features lots of minion mischief, which guarantees plenty of laughs. But what it doesn't have is an edge."[86] Peter Howell of the Toronto Star gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "It feels at times as if Despicable Me 2 actually is The Minions Movie. Coffin and Renaud and returning screenwriters Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio haven't managed to come up with a dastardly plot to rival the shrinking and stealing of the moon from the previous film."[87]

Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave the film two and a half stars out of five, saying "It is consistently diverting and so cute you'll want to pet it. Yet it is also weightless and lacks a center."[88] Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Better, or at least sweeter, than the first, with Wiig adding some much-needed romantic charm to the toddler-level humor."[89] Tirdad Derakhshani of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film two and a half stars out of five, saying "If you're looking for quality prepackaged, predigested Hollywood family fun this summer, you could do a lot worse than Despicable Me 2."[90] Keith Uhlich of Time Out gave the film three stars out of five, saying "A fleeter film than its predecessor, Despicable Me 2 delights more often than it disappoints."[91] Alonso Duralde of The Wrap gave the film a negative review, saying "The minions are still wacky scene-stealers—and once again, we don't get nearly enough of them—but Gru and his daughters have been blanded down to bad-sitcom level."[92] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film two stars out of four, saying "With its predecessor having made a whopping $540 million globally, it's no wonder that Universal saw fit to order a sequel. But it's not enough just to trot out legions of minions and cobble together a plot. Audiences deserve more imagination and inventiveness than this wan recycling."[93] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a 'C' grade, saying "By the end, every child in the audience will want his or her own monster-minion toy. Adults will just regret the way that Despicable Me 2 betrays the original film's devotion to bad-guy gaiety."[94]

James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three stars out of four, saying "Despicable Me 2 feels like an opportunity to get together with some old friends, hang out, and discover what they've been up to."[95] Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film a positive review, saying "The scope of the 'toon espionage-adventure goings-on is surprisingly limited. But the filmmakers so clearly love working on these characters, their creative joy is infectious."[96] Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave the film three stars out of four, saying "The animation is beguiling, particularly when Lucy drives her car into the ocean, transforming it into a submarine that scoots around sharks and fish."[97] Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying "While not quite as charming or unique as the original, Despicable Me 2 comes awfully close, extending co-directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin's delightfully silly sensibility to a bit larger universe."[15] Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film three stars out of four, saying "It's a credit that the writing can be so funny in the moment, that it takes time to realize there's no cohesive story, zero dramatic tension and nary a practical lesson for either the characters in the film or the people watching in the theater."[98]

James Rocchi of MSN Movies gave the film four stars out of five, saying "Heartfelt and hilarious, smart and silly, action-packed but never violent, Despicable Me 2 is that rare sequel that outshines its beginnings."[99] Colin Covert of the Star Tribune gave the film three stars out of four, saying "For an adult, the predictability could turn you blasé. For kids, revisiting these jokes is a howl. Pinkie promise."[100] Mary F. Pols of Time gave the film a positive review, saying "As a sequel it stands level with the first film, and may have the edge on it."[101] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three stars out of four, saying "Co-directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, who do Minion voices expertly, never let up on the laughs. A fart joke in 3-D may not be three times as wacky, but the high spirits of Despicable Me 2 are irresistible fun."[102] A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave the film a 'C' grade, saying "What's missing—and this was the crucial component of part one—is a little sour to undercut the sweet. Like its protagonist, a bad guy gone boringly good, Despicable Me 2 has no edge. It's fatally nice and insufficiently naughty."[103] Laremy Legel of Film.com gave the film a 6.3 out of 10, saying "Despicable Me 2 is fun, especially near the culmination. Structural issues aside, it's impossible not to like these characters, all of them, rendered with love, always entertaining even when the story around them doesn't make much sense."[104]

The spin-off prequel, titled Minions, featuring the Minions as the main characters, was released on July 10, 2015.[121] Written by Brian Lynch, it was directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy.[121] The film was first foreshadowed in Despicable Me 2's mid-credits scene.[122]

The sequel, titled Despicable Me 3, was released on June 30, 2017.[123] The film was directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, with Eric Guillon serving as co-director, and was produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy. Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio returned to write the screenplay for the film.[124]