So what are your plans for 2017? Oh, you don’t have any yet? Then you’re not quite as on-the-ball as Universal, who just announced a pair of film releases for over three years from now. Those films are Despicable Me 3 and a new computer-animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Developing another Despicable Me sequel was a bit of a no-brainer, given how well the first two movies did at the box office. Don’t expect any details about the plot just yet, though. Here’s what they had to say in their not-overly-specific official press release:
“The team who brought you DESPICABLE ME and the biggest animated hit of 2013, DESPICABLE ME 2, returns to continue the adventures of Gru, Lucy, their adorable daughters—Margo, Edith and Agnes—and the Minions.”
So there you go.
Their decision to develop yet another adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s holiday classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, however, is a bit more questionable. There have already been two adaptations of the book, the first being the Seuss-sanctioned classic animated TV special directed by Chuck Jones and the second being the live-action abomination starring Jim Carrey. Why rehash it a third time? Considering the awful job Universal did with their big-screen adaptation of The Lorax, turning a story with a strong environmentalist message into a product placement-heavy sellout of a film promoting corporate interests, it does not bode well for Seuss purists.
Still, if you’re not the sort of person to get extremely angry when you see the Lorax driving around in a Mazda SUV, then there’s still a chance your soul is dead enough to derive enjoyment out of yet another desecration of Seuss’s legacy. Different strokes for different folks and all that.
Despicable Me 3 is set for release on June 30th, 2017, just in time to take advantage of kids who are out of school for the summer and the parents who don’t know what to do with them. How the Grinch Stole Christmas will come later in the year. “Around Christmastime?” you ask. Nope. Try November 17th, so you can start having to deal with Christmas movies before you’ve even bought your Thanksgiving tofurkey.
Oh, you don’t eat tofurkey? You think it’s a pale imitation of the real thing? Some people might say that about a computer-animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas. (Me. I might say it.)