Benedict Cumberbatch's distinct voice has already been used to bring to life one great movie villain, that of the dragon Smaug in Peter Jackon's 'Hobbit' films. But now he's taking on an even greater bad guy; one who would dare try to ruin Christmas for all the litle Who's of Whoville. At Universal and Illumination's presentation at CinemaCon they revealed Cumberbatch will voice The Grinch in their reimagining of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Unlike the previous Jim Carrey-led version, this one will be completely animated, with Pete Candleland and Yarrow Cheney directing. Illumination scored big on their previous Seuss adaptation, The Lorax, which hit nearly $350M in 2012. No other voice cast has been confirmed as of yet, but expect that to change soon. The film is expected to come down the chimney on November 10th 2017.
Meanwhile, Illumination also announced that South Park co-creator Trey Parker will voice the main villain in Despicable Me 3. They also released an image of the bad guy, Balthazar Bratt, an ex-child star who grew up and is now obsessed with the character he played in the '80s. Of course Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith, and Agnes will be back, along with those lovable Minions. Despicable Me 3 opens June 30th 2017.
And speaking of those Minions, the next time you see them on the big screen it will be in the short film, Mower Minions, which will play ahead of this summer's The Secret Life of Pets. What's the story? Does it matter? It's Minions playing with lawn tools and stuff, it's bound to be funny.
