Why Minions Could Travel Through Time: Director Speaks

Picture the Minions in flapper dresses and bowler hats, stumbling through 1920s Hollywood hunting real monsters. Strange image, yes. Hilarious, absolutely. That’s the very gambit behind Minions & Monsters, the latest prequel to the Despicable Me universe—and director Pierre Coffin says it might not be the last time we see the yellow troublemakers in wildly different historical settings.

Minions & Monsters drops the gang into a chaotic, monster-movie quest set against Old Hollywood. The Minions decide to make a horror picture and, to make it authentic, embark on a cross-state romp to find genuine beasts. Slapstick ensues. So does pandemonium across California. Critics have responded warmly: the film sits at an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 60 reviews, a signal that the change of tone landed.

Coffin — who not only directed but also performs the Minions’ vocal antics — told ScreenRant’s Tatiana Halender that there’s no formal greenlight yet for sequels, but he’s fascinated by the idea of treating future entries as standalone vignettes. Think Asterix: the same core characters, each volume dropped into a new country or era. Japan in the medieval age. Imperial China. The far future. The comedic potential, he argues, is endless.

“I always imagined these stories like short, self-contained trips,” Coffin said, according to the interview. “Put the Minions in different historical moments and see what happens. The key is to make each film feel fresh.” That impulse guided Minions & Monsters: Coffin wanted to avoid repeating a tried formula, so he added new characters and leaned into the 1920s setting. Producer Chris Meledandri reportedly gave him wide latitude to experiment—a liberty Coffin welcomed.

There’s a practical logic to the idea, too. The Minions’ place in this franchise is flexible by design: they’ve always been portrayed as an almost mythic presence in human history. That allows Illumination and Coffin to pluck them out of any timeline and drop them into a new cultural playground. Different eras bring fresh visual gags, costume-driven humor, and scope for imaginative set pieces. It’s a sandbox with few boundaries.

Commercially, the franchise remains robust. Despicable Me 4 proved that the world can still deliver big returns—despite mixed critical response—by grossing $986.7 million worldwide on a $100 million budget. Minions & Monsters, produced for roughly $85 million, enjoyed a healthy international kickoff with $16.5 million before its U.S. opening on July 1. Early indicators point toward another profitable chapter, and critics’ favor only helps that momentum.

The upshot: while no official Minions 4 has been announced, the franchise’s creative and financial strength makes future installments more than likely—and Coffin’s anthology-like vision gives the series a clear road map.

There’s also a narrative advantage: these prequels have demonstrated the brand can thrive without Gru at the center. The Minions alone can carry laughs, stakes, and charm. That independence opens space to explore other storylines within the same universe without undoing what works in the main Despicable Me arc.

So what would future Minions films look like under Coffin’s plan? Expect leaps across time and geography, each entry tailored to the era’s cinematic tropes. An adventure in medieval Japan would lean into samurai pageantry and slapstick swordplay. A tale set during the Age of Exploration could mine gags from misinterpreted maps and outlandish inventions. The only rule seems to be: keep the tone unpredictable.

For now, audiences can judge Minions & Monsters on its own merits: a playful detour that refreshes a long-running franchise. And for fans hungry for more, Coffin’s comments offer the most tantalizing promise yet—Minions, it seems, may visit any corner of history as long as there are laughs to be found.

Which era should the Minions tackle next? The suggestion box is open.