Minions: The Rise of Gru, also known as Minions 2, is a 2022 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to Minions (2015), a prequel to Despicable Me (2010), and the fifth entry overall in the Despicable Me franchise. The film was directed by Kyle Balda, co-directed by Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val (in Ableson's feature directorial debut), and produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy and Chris Renaud, from a screenplay written by Matthew Fogel,^[6][7] and a story by Fogel and Brian Lynch.^[8][7] It features Steve Carell reprising his role as Gru and Pierre Coffin as the Minions, along with Russell Brand and Julie Andrews reprising their respective roles as Dr. Nefario and Gru's mother. New cast members include Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, and Alan Arkin. Additionally, Will Arnett and Steve Coogan reprise their roles as Mr. Perkins and Silas Ramsbottom. In the film, an eleven-year-old Gru plans to become a supervillain with the help of his Minions, which leads to a showdown with a malevolent team, the Vicious 6.

After being delayed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Minions: The Rise of Gru had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 13, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 1. The film received generally positive reviews from critics; some deemed it an improvement over its predecessor, with praise earned for its score, animation, humor, voice performances (particularly Carell's),^[9] and aesthetic, although its plot was criticized. It was also a commercial success, grossing over $940 million worldwide and making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2022.

In 1976, an eleven-year-old Gru dreams of becoming a supervillain, assisted by the Minions, whom he has hired to work for him. Gru is ecstatic when he receives an audition invitation from the Vicious 6, a supervillain team now led by Belle Bottom, who hope to find a new member to replace their founder, the supervillain Wild Knuckles, following their betrayal and attempted murder of Knuckles during a heist to steal the Zodiac Stone – a stone connected to the Chinese zodiac. Gru's interview goes poorly but, much to the outrage of the Vicious 6, he steals the stone and escapes with Minions Kevin, Stuart, and Bob, handing it to another Minion, Otto, for safekeeping.

At his basement lair, Gru is outraged that Otto has traded the zodiac stone for a pet rock, causing him to fire the Minions before going alone to find it. However, Knuckles kidnaps Gru before taking him to San Francisco and informs the Minions that if they do not give him the stone within 48 hours, Gru will be killed. Failing to locate the stone, Kevin, Stuart and Bob leave for San Francisco to rescue Gru, while Otto leaves in pursuit of a biker whom he realizes has the stone as a necklace. When they reach Knuckles' house, they are chased by his goons until Master Chow, a former Kung Fu teacher who now makes a living at an acupuncture clinic, rescues them by defeating the goons.

Chow teaches the Minions Kung Fu after they beg and, ending their training prematurely, go to Knuckles' home to rescue Gru. Meanwhile, Otto catches up to and befriends the biker at Death Valley, who gives the stone back and takes him to San Francisco. Gru begins to bond with Knuckles after the latter's goons quit on him, and later saves him from being eaten by crocodiles in his pool. Teaching Gru how to be a villain, the two rob the Bank of Evil. In the meantime, the Vicious 6, having realized that Knuckles is alive, destroy his house in an attempt to find him. Failing to do so, they head towards Chinatown, with Kevin, Stuart and Bob in pursuit.

Returning to his destroyed house, a distraught Knuckles laments his friends' betrayal and decides to give up villainy, sending Gru away. During a Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown, Otto and Gru find each other with the stone but are cornered by the Vicious 6, who in turn are confronted by Anti-Villain League agents. The Vicious 6 then use the stone to turn themselves into large superpowered versions of animals from the Zodiac and prepare to kill Gru by tying him to the hands of a clock tower to rip him apart. Kevin, Stuart, and Bob find Gru, but are turned into a rabbit, a rooster, and a goat, respectively. However, Knuckles returns and fights the Vicious 6 with the Minions. Encouraged by Chow's teaching, Kevin, Stuart, and Bob "find their inner beast" and battle the Vicious 6 while Otto saves Gru, but Knuckles gets badly burnt by Belle's dragon flames when trying to take the stone back. After Kevin, Stuart and Bob knock the Vicious 6 out, Gru uses the stone to turn them into rats. Congratulating the three Minions for saving his life, Gru reconciles and rehires the Minions and returns Stuart, Kevin and Bob back to normal.

The Vicious 6 are arrested, except Knuckles, who is hospitalized and seemingly succumbs to his injuries, while the stone is confiscated by the Anti-Villain League. At Knuckles' funeral, Gru gives a heartfelt eulogy but is overjoyed when it is revealed Knuckles faked his death. He and Gru later drive off with the Minions.

In a mid-credits scene, Gru attempts to hire Dr. Nefario in gratitude for an invention of his that helped him steal the stone. Nefario initially declines but changes his mind after Gru and the Minions beg, giving them a ride on a rocket-powered aircraft.

• Steve Carell as Gru, a rising supervillain and the boss of the Minions^[10][11]
• Pierre Coffin as Kevin, Stuart, Bob, Otto and the rest of the Minions, Gru's yellow troublesome newly-hired henchmen^[10][11][12]
• Alan Arkin as Wild Knuckles, the former leader of the Vicious 6 who later becomes Gru's mentor^[10]
• Taraji P. Henson as Belle Bottom, a master thief and the newly-appointed leader of the Vicious 6^[10]
• Michelle Yeoh as Master Chow, an acupuncturist and Kung Fu fighter who helps the Minions on their quest^[10]
• Julie Andrews as Marlena Gru, Gru's mother^[10]
• Russell Brand as Dr. Nefario, a scientist who runs a record store^[10][11]
• Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jean-Clawed, a member of the Vicious 6 with a giant mechanical lobster claw for his right arm^[10]
• Dolph Lundgren as Svengeance, a member of the Vicious 6 who is a roller skater^[10]
• Danny Trejo as Stronghold, a member of the Vicious 6 with big metal hands^[10]
• Lucy Lawless as Nun-chuck, a member of the Vicious 6 who is a nun and wields nunchaku^[10]

Additionally, Will Arnett and Steve Coogan reprise their respective voice roles as Mr. Perkins and Silas Ramsbottom from the main Despicable Me films.^[13] Michael Beattie voices both the VNC announcer and Guru Rick. Jimmy O. Yang, Kevin Michael Richardson and John DiMaggio voice three of Wild Knuckles' goons.^[14] RZA voices the biker who Otto befriends on his way to San Francisco.^[10] Raymond S. Persi voices Brad.^[14]

Production and character designer Eric Guillon was ordered to unravel Gru's secrets once he started working on Despicable Me (2010) in 2007.^[15] After the success of Minions (2015), the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2015, Screen Daily considered a sequel as "inevitable".^[16][17] Universal Pictures was developing sequel ideas in August 2017,^[18] and Guillon decided that these will explore Gru's early life.^[15] Pierre Coffin (the Minions) and Steve Carell (Gru) both reprised their Despicable Me roles.^[19] Carell was paid $12.5 million for his involvement.^[20] Production of the film shifted to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, following the temporary closure of Illumination Studios Paris.^[21] To incorporate 1970s culture and environment in the film, Wade Eastwood and Ric Meyers were hired as creative consultants while Flora Zhao joined in as a cultural consultant on Chinese culture. The film was officially completed on July 1, 2020.^[22]

The film was dedicated in memory of animator Madeline Montero, who died during production of the film.

The soundtrack album for the film was released on July 1, 2022, through Decca Records and Verve Label Group.^[23] The Jack Antonoff-produced soundtrack consists of various contemporary artists covering famous funk, pop, and soul hits of the 1970s. "Turn Up the Sunshine" by Diana Ross and Tame Impala was released as the album's lead single on May 20, 2022.^[24] It was followed by Kali Uchis's cover of "Desafinado" and St. Vincent's cover of "Funkytown".^[25][26][27]

On July 8, 2022, the score from longtime Illumination composer Heitor Pereira was released with two versions of "Bad Moon Rising" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" being performed by Steve Carell and Pierre Coffin, both songs that were not in the original soundtrack. A new version of the "Despicable Me" theme song, by Pereira and Pharrell Williams, featuring a chorus of children was used in the film but not included in the score or the soundtrack.^[28]

Universal's marketing strategy entailed an active social media campaign, and worldwide tours and activations.^[29] Promotional partners included CarMax, HelloFresh, IHOP, Levi's, Liberty Mutual, and McDonald's.^[30] A trailer of Minions: The Rise of Gru was released in 2020, followed by another two in 2022. The first and third trailers featured "Sabotage" by Beastie Boys, and "Lose Yourself" by Eminem in the second. For "Sabotage", Britt Hayes of The A.V. Club highlighted its "primitive" use in the first trailer, while Adam Pockross of Syfy Wire elaborated that the song performed screaming voices in the third. Some commentators reasoned that "Lose Yourself" impacted the film's action scenes in the second trailer.^{[lower-alpha 1]} Deadline Hollywood reported Universal spent $140 million promoting The Rise of Gru,^[3] and a total of $285 million on marketing, the biggest-ever campaign for a Despicable Me film.^[30]

Minions: The Rise of Gru debuted at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 13, 2022,^[35] followed by a premiere on June 25, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.^[36] The film was initially scheduled for release on July 3, 2020, but was postponed to July 2, 2021, and finally July 1, 2022. These shifts were reportedly made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to Illumination Mac Guff's temporary closure as the film was unfinished at that time.^{[lower-alpha 2]} The film was rumored to have been banned in Lebanon. While the reason for the ban has not been specified, users on social media speculate it was because the character Nun-chuck portrays nuns as evil.^[41][42] The theatrical Chinese release of the film replaced the ending scene with a message stating that Wild Knuckles was arrested and sentenced to twenty years in prison, pursued his love of acting and started his own theater troupe, while Gru "returned to his family".^[43][44]

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Minions: The Rise of Gru for digital download on August 30, 2022; on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 6; and on Peacock on September 23.^[45][46] Physical copies contain behind-the-scenes featurettes, character descriptions, an extended scene, outtakes, recreational activities, and short films Post Modern Minions and Minions and Monsters.^[47] As part of an 18-month deal, it streamed on Peacock for four months, before moving to Netflix for another ten in January 2023, and returned on Peacock for the last four that November.^[48] The Rise of Gru was the best-selling home-video release of September. Blu-ray accounted for 48 percent of its sales.^[49] By the end of 2022, the physical release had grossed about $14 million.^[50]