George Lucas Voices Character in 'Minions & Monsters'
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- George Lucas voices a character in "Minions & Monsters," which Illumination releases in theaters on July 1, according to studio founder Chris Meledandri in an interview with Collider.
- Meledandri said the casting grew out of a meeting roughly two years ago, during which he discovered Lucas is a devoted fan of Illumination's "Despicable Me" and the Minions specifically.
- The character was shaped by the story itself, and Lucas agreed to the role faster than the studio expected — prompting a surprised reaction from co-director Pierre Coffin, co-writer Brian Lynch, and producer Bill Ryan.
- Lucas is already telling Meledandri what role he wants in the next Minions film, with the producer calling it "pretty incredible."
- "Minions & Monsters" follows the yellow henchmen attempting to film a monster movie in 1920s Hollywood, directed by Coffin and Patrick Delage.
- The broader voice cast also includes Coffin, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, and Trey Parker.
Why it matters: Lucas turned out to be a Minions superfan — a detail that converted a casual sitdown into a voice cameo and now has him lobbying for a role in the next installment, per Meledandri. For Illumination, a filmmaker of Lucas's stature attached to a July 1 family tentpole gives the franchise a rare crossover between animation's biggest IP and a Hollywood icon.
