Despicable Me Director Addresses Possible Live-Action Minions Movie

Despicable Me 4 director Chris Renaud doesn’t have any interest in seeing Gru (Steve Carell), his family and their bright-yellow Minions brought to life in a live-action world. Renaud, who also sat in the director’s chair for the original Despicable Me and its first sequel, Despicable Me 2, was asked about Illumination possibly following in Disney’s footsteps.

After all, the Mouse House has succeeded in adapting some of its most-beloved animated titles, like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, into live-action. But don’t look for Illumination and Universal Pictures’ Despicable Me to go down that same creative path, if Renaud has anything to say about it. The filmmaker explained in an interview with Filmhounds:

“God, I hope not.
That’s my answer. I mean if there were conversations like that, I haven’t been privy to them.
But for me, what defines the world is that it is animated, and it allows us to get away with what we get away with.
Like locking a minion in the vending machine,
or you know, blowing up Gru when he attacks Vector (Jason Segel).”

Renaud continued:

“These are really cartoon ideas, like what would have been in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
I think it just becomes something completely different if you do a live-action version.
For me personally, not very appealing.
But again, who knows what can happen but that’s my personal feeling about it.”

Oh, Despicable Me’s Worldwide Appeal to All Ages

Despicable Me 4 thrives this summer, and Gru’s (Carell) latest animated adventure is absolutely killing it financially on a worldwide scale. Despite already being available to buy or rent on VOD platforms, director Chris Renaud’s latest installment in the franchise is still ranked No. 5 at the domestic box office going into the weekend, and the film has made a staggering total of $811.3 million globally (per The Numbers). And it’s clear that Despicable Me’s appeal isn’t limited simply to younger viewers. Renaud said in the same interview:

“Our real target is as broad of an audience as possible.
Although I would say, particularly with the Minions,
children and families with children are a huge driver of who comes to see our movies, particularly in the theatre.
It’s what you can imagine, it’s trying to find certain elements, like the baby in this film who does not like his dad.

That’s something that children aren’t gonna have an appreciation for, but certainly any adult that can see a baby that doesn’t seem to like them can relate to.
Or, the idea of moving into a neighborhood and the neighbors seem a little snobbish, a little standoffish,
that’s more of an adult idea.”

Despite Despicable Me 4’s lukewarm Tomatometer rating, as a result of the critics’ less-than-enthusiastic reviews, audiences of all ages still turned out in droves to watch adult Gru’s big-screen return. Renaud continued speaking about the franchise’s broad appeal during the same sit-down:

“Even some of the basic, not even just the comedy, but some of the basic story ideas are something that’s going to be more relatable to an adult than a kid.
But, I think that ultimately what we try to do, what we shoot for is a film that everybody can find something for themselves in it,
and then everyone will laugh together.

I mean I remember, and this is in the first Despicable Me, but we had the Lehman brothers joke not long after the 2008 financial crash.
There’s not a kid in the audience that’s gonna understand that.
But in that particular film, it was one of our biggest laughs and it was certainly pointed at adults.
We always look for that kind of stuff that can play for an older audience as well as the kids.”

Cinephiles from all walks of life and of every age are utterly in love with Gru and his pill-shaped Minions in the franchise’s latest installment. Armed with an “A” CinemaScore and a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 88%, no one seems to care about what those obstinate critics have to say about Renaud’s Despicable Me 4. But don’t look for live-action Gru anytime soon in theaters.

Despicable Me 4
is now playing in theaters and is also available to buy or rent on the usual VOD platforms, including
Fandango at Home,
formerly Vudu.