Illumination Entertainment Sets Dates for Three Untitled ‘Franchise’ Films

Coming off the very unprecedented (and very controversial) box office success of Minions, Illumination Entertainment is wasting no time in continuing its quick ascent up the feature animation ladder.

As reported by Deadline, Universal and Illumination have announced three Summer release dates for three untitled ‘franchise’ films.

The first film will roll out on July 13, 2018. The second film will follow on July 3, 2019. The third film will bow on July 10, 2020.

In a statement released to Deadline, Universal had this to say about the films: “The upcoming entries will be full of the sweet-yet-subversive humor, relatable characters and innovative visuals that have come to be expected from the makers of the beloved Despicable Me franchise.”

The next Illumination release will be The Secret Life of Pets on July 8 of next year. Following that will be an untitled musical on December 21, 2016, Despicable Me 3 on June 30, 2017, and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas on November 17, 2017.

Do take note of how the three untitled films in question are being referred to as ‘franchise’ films. As of current, Despicable Me is the only major franchise that’s been developed under Illumination’s purview, so that word does raise a lot of interesting questions (that may or may not be officially addressed at some point).

Perhaps they are hoping that The Secret Life of Pets and/or the untitled musical are potential franchise starters. That may not be the case in real life (for now), but even if that were true, that still leaves us with one date to fill in.

I don’t know about you, but I have a strong feeling that the Despicable Me franchise won’t end with the third film. In that regard, I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2020 date were somehow given to a fourth movie. Or if it isn’t a Despicable Me film, than I also wouldn’t be surprised if Minions 2 landed anywhere (because you obviously can’t ignore a spinoff that made that much money).

One final guess I have is that they could very well be films that were known to be in development, like the long-gestating Emily the Strange adaptation and The Cat in the Hat (another Dr. Seuss/Illumination project).

In any case, the news is a strong statement from Illumination. They’ve made their mark, the animation world now has their full attention, and they aren’t going to taper off anytime soon.