Minions & Monsters, the third installment in Illumination’s record-breaking Minions franchise and the seventh entry in the broader Despicable Me universe, will world-premiere as the opening film of the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 21 — nine days before its global theatrical release on July 1.
The Annecy festival runs June 21 through June 27, and the selection cements a relationship between Illumination and the prestigious French lakeside event that stretches back sixteen years. Highlights of that partnership include the world premiere of Despicable Me at Annecy in 2010, which launched the franchise, and Minions: The Rise of Gru opening the festival in 2022. Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri received Annecy’s Golden Ticket lifetime achievement honor in 2023.
The film takes place around 40 years before the events of the 2015 Minions film, following the yellow henchmen as they aim to make a monster movie in Old Hollywood. The official synopsis describes the story as “rambunctious, ridiculous and totally true” — the Minions conquer Hollywood, become movie stars, lose everything, accidentally unleash real monsters onto the world, and then band together to fix the chaos they caused.
Oscar-nominated Pierre Coffin directs the film, which he co-directs with Patrick Delage, marking Coffin’s return to the Minions franchise he helped launch. Coffin has voiced the Minions in every film since their 2010 debut. Brian Lynch, who wrote the 2015 Minions and both Secret Life of Pets films, co-wrote the screenplay with Coffin. Meledandri and Bill Ryan — executive producer of The Super Mario Bros. Movie — produce.
The voice cast includes Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, Trey Parker, Bobby Moynihan, and Phil LaMarr. Composer John Powell joins the franchise for the first time, marking a departure from Heitor Pereira, who scored the previous Despicable Me installments.
The film was originally set for release on June 30, 2027, before Universal moved it up after DreamWorks Animation postponed Shrek 5. A trailer debuted during Super Bowl LX in February, and additional footage played at CinemaCon in April. The Despicable Me and Minions franchise has generated over $5.6 billion at the global box office across its six previous films.
