The release date of Minions 3 was shifted by nearly a year.
Minions 3 will be released earlier than its predecessor, which helped the franchise reach a significant financial milestone. The Rise of Gru, the spinoff series’ 2022 sequel, swiftly started bridging the gap to the current plot after initially debuting as a prequel to the Despicable Me films. Minions 3 would not be revealed to be in development until July 2024, with a June 2027 release date, even though the most recent sequel, Despicable Me 4, had seen the franchise reach the $5 billion milestone.
According to information obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Universal is rearranging a few of its forthcoming release dates. Minions 3, the Despicable Me threequel spinoff, is one such film that has been given a new release date. It will now be released on July 1, 2026, replacing Shrek 5, which was previously scheduled for December 23 of the same year. Additionally, Minions 3, which was formerly scheduled for release on June 30, 2027, will now be in theaters almost a full year earlier.
What Minions 3’s New Release Date Means
Changes to release dates are common in the movie industry, but Minions 3’s date being moved up by almost a year is far less common. Release delays are much more prevalent in the animated film genre than being moved forward on a studio’s calendar because the production process usually takes years. However, it might also be because Shrek 5’s development was delayed while the Palisades Wildfire closed down a large portion of Southern California, given that Illumination Studios Paris is typically the location for the studio’s output.
The release of Minions 3 in theaters in July 2026 really carries on a franchise tradition, regardless of the studio’s choice to postpone the film for a full year. With the exception of Despicable Me 3, which debuted on June 30 and thus still spent a significant portion of its theatrical run in July, all four of the mainline Despicable Me films and the two Minions spinoffs debuted in theaters in July. The chart below shows the performance of the previous Despicable Me and Minions films on the days of their respective releases:
Minions 3 will have a lot of competition in the Summer 2026 calendar, even if the studio’s confidence in the film’s timing is evident from the change in its release plans. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and Pixar’s Toy Story 5, a significant rival in attracting the family market, will be released two weeks before the threequel, while the live-action Moana remake, another family-friendly rival, will debut the week after.
Our Opinion on the New Release Date for Minions 3
Although Minions 3 will have more competition than its predecessor, it could equal The Rise of Gru’s box office success if it can match the 2022 spinoff sequel’s level of creativity. Despite competing with Thor: Love and Thunder and other animated films like Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank and DC League of Super-Pets, the last Minions film broke several box office records, including the biggest opening weekend on Independence Day. I doubt that the upcoming film will be so overshadowed by its rivals.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter