Despicable Me

Despicable Me is a 2010 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The first feature film from Illumination, it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, and John Cohen, from a screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, and a story by Sergio Pablos. Despicable Me stars the voices of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Kristen Wiig, Will Arnett, and Julie Andrews. The film follows Gru, a longtime supervillain who adopts three orphan girls to use as pawns in a villainous scheme but reluctantly develops an emotional attachment to them. Development of Despicable Me began when Pablos pitched the idea about a main character having villainous attributes and brought the concept to Meledandri following Illumination's foundation in 2007, with Paul and Daurio writing the script. The film was officially announced in 2008, with much of its creative team attached, while animation was provided by Paris-based studio Mac Guff. Pharrell Williams and Heitor Pereira composed the film's score, with original songs written and performed by Williams. Despicable Me debuted at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 9, 2010, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 9. The film received positive reviews from critics and earned $543.6 million worldwide, becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2010. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards and Annie Awards and is also the winner for Favorite Animated Movie at the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards. The success of Despicable Me launched a multi-billion dollar multimedia franchise, which comprises Despicable Me 2 (2013), Minions (2015), Despicable Me 3 (2017), Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), and Despicable Me 4 (2024).