'Minions 2' Has Been Postponed Thanks to Coronavirus

BY Josiah HughesPublished Mar 19, 2020

Global health officials have strongly advised against large gatherings as we try to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, dubbing large crowds to have lethal potential. If you think about it, that means those immature yellow bean-shaped guys from Minions are even worse for humanity than usual. As such, it should come as no surprise that the next Minions movie has been cancelled.

Minions: The Rise of Gru was set for release this summer, but it has been pulled from the schedule over coronavirus concerns. The reality of the situation is that Illumination Animation was forced to shutter its animation studio in France, meaning the company won't be able to meet its deadline for the film.

"In response to the severity of the situation in France, we are temporarily closing our Illumination Mac Guff studio in Paris," Illumination founder Chris Meledandri said in a statement. "With this decision we are abiding by the French government's guidelines and doing everything possible to slow the spread of the virus as we care for our artists and their families."

He continued: "This means we will be unable to finish Minions: The Rise of Gru in time for our planned global releases in late June and early July. While we all grapple with the enormity of this crisis, we must put the safety and protection of our employees above all. We look forward to finding a new release date for the return of Gru and the Minions."

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