‘Despicable Me 4’ Trailer: Will Ferrell, Sofia Vergara Play Gru’s Newest Foes | Video

Universal unveiled the first trailer for “Despicable Me 4,” the next installment in animation studio Illumination’s flagship franchise, during the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

The trailer offered a first glimpse at the plot of the film, which sees Gru (Steve Carell), his wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) and his three daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (newcomer Madison Polan) welcome baby boy Gru Jr. to the family. But despite bearing his name, Gru Jr. doesn’t have any love for his father at all — and in fact is intent on unleashing devious torment upon him.

But that’s not Gru’s biggest problem. For that honor belongs to Maxime Le Mal and his femme fatale girlfriend, Valentina, played by Will Ferrell and Sofia Vergara. Maxime, a figure from Gru’s past, is out for revenge, forcing the family to go on the run.

While Illumination was unable to dodge the struggles that original animated films have faced recently with “Migration,” which has grossed just $206 million worldwide, it had one of the biggest hits of 2023 with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” The video game film dominated the spring with $1.36 billion grossed at the global box office, second only to “Barbie” on the year-end charts.

“Despicable Me 4” will likely have a similarly high ranking on the 2024 charts given the franchise’s track record. Along with the two spinoff “Minions” films, the “Despicable Me” franchise has grossed over $4.6 billion at the global box office, with all of the films — save for its original installment in 2010 — grossing at least $940 million worldwide.

Along with Ferrell and Vergara, newcomers to the cast include Stephen Colbert, “SNL” star Chloe Fineman and Emmy nominee Joey King. Chris Renaud returns to direct alongside Patrick Delage from a script by Mike White and Ken Daurio. Illumination head Chris Meledandri returns as producer with Brett Hoffman.

“Despicable Me 4” hits theaters July 3. Check out the trailer in the clip above.

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