No one ever expected Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment to become a worldwide CGI contender, on the scale of Dreamworks and Pixar, when Despicable Me hit cinemas in 2010 and grossed over $550M worldwide from a modest $69M budget (tiny compared to the usual industry standard which is usally three times that).
So it's of little surprise that Universal have fast tracked a second helping to ensure the box office dollars do their thing before their target audience grows up and forgets all about the little yellow minions which started this whole craze in the first place.
The idea of the "silent, cute" secondary characters (which can not only be used to sell toys but also create "DVD extras and spin-offs") first came to light with Madagascar's Penguins, but truly honed with Despicable Me. They are now a staple in-film marketing component of nearly every single CGI kids film. If you hadn't noticed it before - you will now!
If it ain't broke, don't fix it - seems to be the motto their going with this time. The story for Despicable Me 2 follows the adventures of more minion madness with director Chris Meledandri and his team delivering an all new adventure featuring the return of Gru (Steve Carell), the girls, the unpredictably hilarious minions.
Will it be any good? Probably not. Will it make a bundle and sells toys? You bet ya!
