Illumination’s latest Minions film takes the franchise to 1920s Hollywood, a creative shift director Pierre Coffin said was intended to give the long-running series a fresh direction.
When Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri first pitched the animated prequel comedy Minions & Monsters, Coffin said he wanted to expand on the original concept.
“I didn’t want to do another Minions movie,” Coffin told Reuters. “I was trying to make it more interesting for myself.”
The project initially centered on the Minions searching for monster masters. Coffin instead proposed setting the story in Hollywood during the 1920s, saying the era offered a more distinctive backdrop.
“It would be cool to have it happen in Hollywood in the ’20s because that would give them a great backdrop,” he said.
The film is set in 1920, 48 years before the events of the 2015 prequel Minions, and opens in theaters on Wednesday.
The Minions first appeared in 2010’s Despicable Me, which spawned three sequels and three prequel spin-offs. The franchise has since expanded beyond film with theme park attractions, merchandise, restaurants and character experiences at Universal Studios parks.
Minions Film
Daniel Loria, senior vice president of content strategy and editorial director at Boxoffice Pro, expects the film to earn between $80 million and $95 million over the five-day opening holiday weekend, making it the weekend’s top box office release.
In Minions & Monsters, the Minions’ search for a monster master leads them to make a monster movie in Old Hollywood.
The voice cast includes Coffin as the Minions, alongside Allison Janney, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch and Bobby Moynihan.
Eisenberg said the film blends humor for children with references that older audiences can appreciate.
“My kid was laughing at all the kid things, but then I found myself just really admiring the old film references,” he said.
Deutch said the Minions’ enduring popularity stems from their blend of humor, charm and eccentricity, as well as their fictional language, Minionese, sometimes referred to as Banana language.
Although she does not speak the language herself, Deutch said she enjoys watching online creators who have learned it.
“There’s one girl who I am dying to meet,” she said. “She put together a dictionary of this, she can speak it, and she’s so funny. She puts videos together and sings.
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