'Minions: Rise Of Gru' Gets New Release Date From Universal

“Minions: Rise Of Gru” has become the latest movie to get a new release date because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A plethora of movies have already changed their release dates so that more and more people could come to watch them on the big screen.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the fifth movie in the "Minions" saga was all set to release on July 3 later this year, but the studio has decided to push back the movie due to the threat posed by the life-threatening virus. The highly-anticipated film will now open on July 2, 2021, exactly a year after its original release date.

The “Minions” saga started in 2010 with “Despicable Me.” The movie turned out to be a financial success and prompted Universal to turn it into a franchise. Since then, three more movies have been introduced in the series. “Despicable Me 2” came out in 2013 while “Minions” hit the theaters in 2015. The last movie in the series, “Despicable Me 3,” came out in 2017.

With the help of “Minions” and “Despicable Me 3,” the series has accumulated more than $3.7 billion globally, making it the highest-grossing animated franchise of all time. Both the movies earned more than $1 billion each at the worldwide box office.

On the other hand, “Despicable Me 2” is the only film in the franchise to garner an Academy Award nomination.

The voice cast of the “Minions: Rise Of Gru” include the likes of Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, and Julie Andrews.

Apart from “Rise Of Gru,” two more movies have been delayed due to the outbreak. “Sing 2” and “Wicked” will get new release dates in the coming months because no one knows when will they will be allowed to gather and start production on the movies.

The news comes a couple of days after Sony Pictures decided to reshuffle due to the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Movies like “Morbius,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,” and “Uncharted” have been pushed back to next year.

Meanwhile, the upcoming Tom Hanks movie “Greyhound” has been completely taken off the schedule. Hanks is currently living in self-isolation after testing positive for the virus in Australia earlier this year.

Big tentpoles like “No Time To Die,” “Mulan,” “F9,” “The New Mutants,” and “A Quiet Place: Part II” have already been delayed because of the deadly disease. The movie business is taking one of the worst hits and will suffer more losses if the theaters continue to remain shut down in the coming months.