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Despicable Me 4 CinemaCon Teaser Shows Gru's Thief Skills Are a Little Rusty
Armed with just a diaper bag, Gru and Gru Jr. narrowly escape a honey badger in new clip for the Illumination feature.
The countdown is on! After a long seven-year absence, Despicable Me 4 is almost here, premiering in theatres nationwide on July 3. This week, Universal unleashed Gru and his trusty Minions on the lucky attendees of CinemaCon in Las Vegas ahead of the premiere, providing an extended clip of Illumination’s latest installment in the wildly popular franchise.
The teaser hints that the reformed supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) is back in action but might be a little rusty after living the Dad Life in the suburbs. We see that Gru has his hands full with a precocious new addition to his family, Gru Jr. — a mini-me right down to his dad’s hilarious “angry face.” Audiences were also introduced to the young villainess Poppy (voiced by Joey King), who we know has at least one superpower: epic dance moves.
What hijinks are Gru and the Minions up to in the clip?
In the sneak peek, the crew attempts a “Mission: Impossible”-style heist, according to Variety, of a castle/private school that is fortified with lasers, guards, and a crazed honey badger, there were seemingly glimpses of this scene in the trailer for Despicable Me 4. As pandemonium ensues, Gru reaches for his bag of tricks. It turns out that instead of supervillain gear, the Minions accidentally bring Gru’s diaper bag, filled with rash cream, baby bottles, and a pacifier. Gru gets hit in the butt with a tranquilizer shot, and meanwhile, Gru Jr. crawls all over the place, setting off booby traps — a scene most parents can relate to.
Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri introduced the clip at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, a trade show for theatre owners, Hollywood studios, exhibitors, and tech companies. He thanked attendees for the success of his studio’s recent animated feature Migration, which is now streaming on Peacock.
“In case of any doubt, our commitment to produce original animation film remains steadfast,” he said (via Variety).
What is Despicable Me 4 about?
Gru and his wife, fellow Anti-Villain League Agent Lucy (Kristen Wiig), are embracing family life with their trusty Minions when suddenly their suburban bubble bursts. Escaped criminal Maxime Le Mall (Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Sofia Vergara) have Gru in their crosshairs, and he and his crew must go on the run. Anti-Villain League boss Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan) comes out of retirement to help them.
We’ve seen glimpses of Despicable Me 4 before, thanks to a clever 2024 Super Bowl ad mocking AI technology and an action-packed trailer that dropped in February. As Meledandri said at CinemaCon, the film is “joyous, surprising, and filled with characters that we love.”
Catch Despicable Me 4 on Peacock starting on Oct. 31, 2024.
