Despicable Me 2 was one of 2013’s biggest movies, and the #1 animated movie of the year so far, with a global box office haul upwards of $800 million.
Now, the upcoming spin-off movie, Minions, starring everyone’s favorite yellow…things, which was originally slated for a December 19, 2014 release, is now shifting to July 10, 2015.
With the new release date, Universal and Illumination will be able to cash in on the heavy summer movie rush (which helped make Despicable Me 2 such a roaring success) and sell millions of more toys and Minion-themed merchandise.
The Minions film will be a prequel and will feature the Minions before they worked for Gru. The story will tell us how they became what they are, featuring the yellow guys competing at a henchman competition to serve Scarlett Overkill (played by Sandra Bullock), one of the greatest female villains in history.
2015 is certainly shaping up to be a huge year for animation, what with Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out, Dreamworks’ The Penguins of Madagascar, B.O.O. (Bureau of Otherworldly Operations), and Kung Fu Panda 3, Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 2, and Blue Sky’s Peanuts.