Alongside its preview at the 2022 Annecy Festival this past June, we had the opportunity to catch up with Minions 2: Once Upon a Time Gru director Kyle Balda.
Why was it important to you that Minions 2: Once Upon a Gru was released in theaters and not live streaming?
Kyle Balda (Director): We were almost done with the movie when the pandemic started and like everyone else, we were thrown into an unknown situation that affected the whole world. But all of Illumination Studios’ feature films are created for theatrical release at their fair value. That’s why we decided to wait for a better moment to release it in theaters.
How did you come up with new ideas for exploring this hugely popular and prolific franchise?
As you summed up perfectly, this is a very popular franchise, so in a sense, when someone goes to see a Minions movie, they have certain expectations from the previous movies. So you have to respect that before trying to take the audience in an unexpected direction, offering something that’s never been done before.
How do we find the balance to make Gru, an overtly evil character, someone so likable?
It was this aspect that made me fall in love with the Despicable Me franchise in the first place. The discovery of youth reinforces this aspect. In The Minions 2, we discover that Gru and the Minions have common interests: the Minions want to be a part of Gru’s life and help him achieve his dreams and plans, while Gru is on his own, we understand why he is not close to him. Mom, what we learned from the first Despicable Me without explaining it at the time.
In his opinion, the Vicious 6 super-villain team is the family he never had. It was a lot of fun playing around with this idea and slowly realizing that the Minions are the family he’s always dreamed of.
Although it is a prequel, this second spin-off dedicated to Minions also offers an ideal entry point for anyone who wants to discover the world of Despicable Me.
Yes, the franchise has a very complex structure, but each film is designed in such a way that anyone can watch them without seeing the others and still have a good time. Hopefully, we’ll make the audience want to see the other movies and continue the Minions experience by watching the Despicable Me trilogy.
Source: allocine
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.