This undoubtedly helped the film’s already strong box office success, which reached nearly $1 billion and made it the fifth highest-grossing film of the year, and star Steve Carell said he was happy to see the trend begin.
“I was talking to Chris Meledandri, the head of Illumination, and initially we were like, ‘Is this actually happening or is this a one-off?'” he explained in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com ahead of this weekend’s release of Despicable Me 4.
“I saw some kids somewhere in Texas, dressed up, wearing suits, going to one of the early screenings. Then it started spreading by word of mouth. Then it started happening all over the place.”
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“But when the first one came out, we were like, ‘Wow, that’s so cool that those kids came up with that.’ But then it caught on and became something we had to do.”
He added, “I loved the movie because it wasn’t sarcastic. Those kids grew up watching Despicable Me, just like my kids, and they’re not sarcastic, and they still love the movies. My kids still love the series and go see every one. They’re 20 and 23 and they still enjoy the movies. Nostalgic, but not sarcastic.”
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Carell has voiced the reformed supervillain Gru since the original film was released in 2010, and the new installment in the franchise will mark his sixth time reprising the role (though his role in the first Minions spinoff was just a cameo).
The new movie Radio Times The film, which received four stars in our review, sees Gru face off against a new nemesis in the form of French villain Maxime Le Mal, played by Will Ferrell, who has harbored a grudge against Gru since their days studying together at the Lycée Pas Bons.
And Carell revealed that even though they didn’t record together, he enjoyed going head-to-head with his old co-star Ferrell.
“We were never together while we were filming,” he said, “and when I first saw the movie, I didn’t even recognize his voice. I knew it was him, but it definitely wasn’t his voice. It was amazing!”
Despicable Me 4 will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 12 July 2024.
Find out more about the film or visit our TV and streaming guides to see what’s on. For more on TV’s biggest stars, listen to the Radio Times podcast.
