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Revealing its animated family calendar for the near future, Universal announced Wednesday it will release Despicable Me 3 on June 30, 2017, and a new Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas on Nov. 17 of that year.
Both movies are from Chris Meledandri‘s Illumination Entertainment, the powerhouse behind the Despicable Me franchise. Universal, which owns a piece of Meledandri’s company, also announced a Dec. 21, 2016, release date for an untitled Illumination project.
Pete Candeland is set to direct the newly imagined How the Grinch Stole Christmas from an adapted script by Michael LeSieur. The film, based on Dr. Seuss’ iconic kids book, will open 17 years after Ron Howard‘s version played in theaters.
News of a third Despicable Me comes as the second film in the franchise celebrates a dazzling run at the global box office, earning north of $935 million to date, one of the best showings of all time for an animated film (Illumination’s Minions spinoff opens in theaters July 10, 2015).
The exact plot of the untitled 2016 Illumination project is shrouded in secrecy, although Universal announced that Garth Jennings will direct and write the comedy. The studio also hinted there will be plenty of music.
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