Universal Sets Release Dates for ‘Minions 2,’ ‘Secret Life of Pets 2,’ ‘Sing 2’
Look, you can’t blame a studio for taking notice when something is working. Sequels wouldn’t get greenlit unless someone, somewhere, wanted them. It makes perfect fiscal sense for upstart animation studio Illumination to follow up on their blockbusters Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing. But, god, did they have to announce them all at once like that?
Deadline ran a brief but intense press release from Illumination and Universal earlier today, in which the creative bastion’s plans for the future were all cleanly laid out. We already knew that this summer will see the Despicable Me franchise return for a third installment, and 2018 will deliver a fresh take on Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Today’s developments have slated a follow-up on the inescapable Minions phenomenon for Independence Day Weekend in 2020. Exactly one year earlier, on 4th of July weekend in 2019, The Secret Life of Pets will return for another slobbery good time. And because the people have demanded more karaoke versions of 14-month-old Top 40 hits performed by talking animals, Sing will return with a vengeance on Christmas Day in 2020. As we all know, jokes about rotund swine wearing glittery track suits are what Christmas is really all about.
The Deadline item provides a staggering number — $2.5 billion, to be exact — as the cumulative box office total of Sing, Pets, and Minions. These poorly-reviewed films still look like the safest bet in Hollywood, suggesting that kids’ entertainment may be the one true critic-proof genre. This is a Minion world, and we’re all just trying to survive in it.