Despicable Me 4 is a 2024 American animated comedy film directed by Chris Renaud and written by Mike White and Ken Daurio. Produced by Illumination and Universal Pictures, it is the fourth main installment in the Despicable Me franchise and the sixth overall installment. The film stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Stephen Colbert, Sofía Vergara, and Will Ferrell. Taking place after the events of Despicable Me 3 (2017), the film sees reformed supervillain and secret agent Gru temporarily relocating his family to a safe house when his old rival, Maxime Le Mal (Ferrell), seeks revenge. Meanwhile, some of Gru's Minions are augmented with superpowers from the Anti-Villain League (AVL), forming a superhero initiative known as the Mega Minions.
Development on a fourth main Despicable Me film began in September 2017. It was officially confirmed in February 2022, with Renaud, Patrick Delage, and White attached as director, co-director, and writer, respectively. Production was underway by June 2022. Most of the main voice cast was announced in January 2024, with Brett Hoffman and Daurio revealed as co-producer and co-writer, respectively, with Chris Meledandri and White. Heitor Pereira and Pharrell Williams returned from previous instalments to compose the score and write original songs and themes, respectively.
Despicable Me 4 debuted at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on June 9, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 3 by Universal Pictures. Despite mixed reviews, the film continued the franchise's streak of box-office successes, grossing $986.7million worldwide against a budget of $100 million, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2024.
Plot
Former supervillain and undercover Anti-Villain League (AVL) Agent Gru attends a class reunion at his alma mater Lycée Pas Bon where he reunites with Maxime Le Mal, a former classmate of his who has a feud with Gru who he believes stole his talent show act. During the ceremony, Maxime reveals he has enhanced himself with cockroach body parts, but Gru has him arrested by the AVL. Helped by his cockroach minions, Maxime escapes prison to get revenge on Gru and reveals his new invention: a ray gun that transforms people into cockroach hybrids, which he plans to use specifically on Gru's infant son Gru Jr.
Days later, Silas Ramsbottom, who has come out of retirement, visits the Gru household to inform them that Maxime has escaped and that the AVL will have to temporarily relocate the family to a safe house in another town under new identities. Meanwhile, the AVL takes in most of the Minions, and Silas selects five of them to be augmented with superpowers under a new initiative called the Mega Minions. However, the initiative is called off after the group unintentionally causes significant collateral damage in a nearby city.
In their new well-off residential town, Gru and his family meet their new neighbors, the Prescotts, and their teenage daughter Poppy. Poppy, an aspiring villain, recognizes Gru from his former villainous career and threatens to blow his cover unless he helps her pull a heist to steal Lycée Pas Bon's honey badger mascot Lenny. With the help of two Minions and Gru Jr., they successfully steal Lenny from the school, unaware that Lenny's collar contains a tracking device. The school's principal Übelschlecht identifies Gru via security camera footage and contacts Maxime to inform him about Gru's whereabouts.
The next day, while Gru and Lucy are away at tennis practice with Poppy's parents Perry and Patsy, leaving Poppy to watch over the girls and Gru Jr. When Übelschlecht visits the safe house to interrogate them about Gru, Poppy sneaks away with Lenny. Gru and Lucy then rush back home after being alerted by Margo and they fight Übelschlecht. Lucy also signals the AVL who calls the Mega Minions out of retirement to stop Maxime. In the havoc, however, Gru Jr. leaves the house and is spotted by Maxime and his girlfriend Valentina, who kidnap the baby. Lucy and the girls stay behind to handle Übelschlecht as Gru decides to save his son with help from Poppy.
Gru and Poppy use a flying car they had commandeered during their heist, and Poppy steers into position so Gru can board Maxime's ship and crash it into a building under construction. Maxime reveals he has brainwashed and turned Gru Jr. into a human-cockroach hybrid and they fight Gru off. Gru is wounded and almost thrown off of the building, but his encouraging words to his son manage to break Gru Jr. free from his brainwashing state and he attacks Maxime instead. Gru punches Maxime off the building to the ground, where he is further harmed by the Mega Minions who arrive in turn, the AVL then arrest Maxime and Valentina.
Reunited with Lucy and the girls, Gru Jr. finally calls Gru "Dada." The family returns to their original home, adopting Lenny as a pet, and Dr. Nefario reverses Gru Jr.'s transformation. Some time later, Gru visits Maxime in an AVL prison to talk and settle their differences. The rivals then put on a performance of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" for the prisoners, which include villains from the past, while Poppy is accepted at Lycée Pas Bon.
Voice cast Steve Carell as Gru, a former supervillain turned Anti-Villain League agent Kristen Wiig as Lucy Wilde, an Anti-Villain League agent and Gru's wife Will Ferrell as Maxime Le Mal, a French-accented, cockroach-themed supervillain and high school rival of Gru Tara Strong as Gru Jr., Gru and Lucy's youngest child Joey King as Poppy Prescott, an aspiring supervillainess and admirer of Gru Stephen Colbert as Perry Prescott, Poppy's father and Gru's new neighbor Chloe Fineman as Patsy Prescott, Poppy's mother Sofía Vergara as Valentina, Maxime's femme fatale girlfriend Miranda Cosgrove as Margo, the eldest daughter of Gru and Lucy Dana Gaier as Edith, the middle daughter of Gru and Lucy Madison Polan as Agnes, the third daughter of Gru and Lucy Pierre Coffin as the Minions, who are: Dave, a very tall, and wide two eyed mega minion who is heavyweight Gus, a short two eyed mega minion who resembles a bullet Mel, an average height one eyed mega minion who has a laser eye Tim, a very tall, and narrow two eyed mega minion who has the ability to stretch Jerry, a tall, and wide one eyed mega minion who can swallow anything Steve Coogan as Silas Ramsbottom, the previously retired director of the Anti-Villain League Chris Renaud as Principal Frau Übelschlecht, the elderly principal of Lycée Pas Bon
Additionally, John DiMaggio, who previously voiced one of Wild Knuckles' former henchmen in Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) and a Scoutmaster in the Minion Scouts animated short, voices Karl, the angry bus driver who works for the AVL transporting the remaining Minions to their new destination. Laraine Newman voices Melora, a salon customer whose hair was accidentally burned by Lucy and seeks revenge, Brad Ableson voices Sensei O'Sullivan, Agnes and Edith's karate teacher, and Romesh Ranganathan voices Dr. Nefario, Gru's elderly scientist and assistant. Ranganathan replaces Nefario's long-time voice actor, Russell Brand.
Cameos at the end of the film include several returning villains like Vector, El Macho, and Balthazar Bratt with Jason Segel, Benjamin Bratt, and Trey Parker respectively reprising their roles through archive audio. Silent cameos include Gru's neighbor, Fred McDade, his mother Marlena, and his twin brother Dru, as well as several villains from the previous installments of the franchise including Vector's father Mr. Perkins, Scarlet and Herb Overkill, and the surviving members of the Vicious 6.
Production Development Development on Despicable Me 4 began in September 2017, with longtime Despicable Me and Illumination writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio writing early drafts of the script. The film was officially confirmed in February 2022, with veteran Despicable Me director Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage, and Mike White attached as director, co-director, and writer, respectively, and a July 3, 2024, release date announced. Production was underway by June 2022, with Steve Carell starting his voice recording after a "couple of sessions". Most of the production was done during the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2024, it was announced that The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) executive producer Brett Hoffman and Daurio had been added as co-producer and co-writer, respectively.
Writing White wrote the screenplay of Despicable Me 4 with Daurio, who joined him later in the production. The filmmakers aimed to delve deeper into multiple elements to improve the story's stability, since Minions: The Rise of Gru was delayed to July 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Renaud and White had ideas for the narrative including Gru and his family being forced into witness protection and Gru's rogue rival from high school; they were intended to foster a connection with the audience, depending on each subplot focus.
An abandoned Mega Minions idea from Despicable Me 2 (2013) was resurrected for Despicable Me 4. The filmmakers researched initial concepts of the idea, taking inspiration from the Marvel Comics team Fantastic Four and the Pixar film The Incredibles (2004). To make the Mega Minions unique from the majority of media featuring superheroes, Renaud incorporated the Minions' characteristics—including their incompetence—into the Mega Minions.
Casting In January 2024, it was announced that Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Pierre Coffin, and Steve Coogan would return to reprise their respective roles as Gru, Lucy Wilde, Margo, Edith, the Minions, and Silas Ramsbottom, while Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofía Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Chloe Fineman, and Madison Polan (replacing Nev Scharrel who had in turn replaced Elsie Fisher) would join the voice cast, respectively voicing Maxime Le Mal, Poppy Prescott, Valentina, Perry Prescott, Patsy Prescott, and Agnes.
Animation According to Renaud, some of the characters who appeared in previous films had their character rigs and surfaces updated for this film. Fred McDade, who had not appeared since the second film, was recreated from scratch, as his character model was too old. The sequence where Poppy plays with an arcade machine originally started out as an animation test for the character, but the filmmakers liked the sequence so much that it was added to the final cut of the film.
Music
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. The original soundtrack was released on June 27, 2024, by Back Lot Music.
Marketing and release