A third Minions movie is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 1, 2026, and Universal Pictures and Illumination have just been hit with one of the worst leaks in recent memory.
A test screening for the threequel recently took place, and someone snuck in a device that recorded the movie's audio from start to finish. That's since been shared to social media—clocking in at 1:24:38—and while we won't link to it here, it's not exactly hard to find.
While a movie's audio isn't the same as a full-blown bootleg, full Minions 3 plot details are now being spread online as a result of the leak. As we first reported on Toonado.com, scooper @MyTimeToShineH previously claimed that it will be titled Minions & Monsters, with a story revolving around the Minions attempting to become filmmakers/content creators.
Test screenings are important for studios to figure out what is and isn't working about an upcoming movie, but leaks have become the norm. The entire plot of several Marvel releases, along with DC Studios' Superman, has been spoiled in advance since the pandemic, but this audio finding its way online is on another level.
Last summer, Despicable Me 4 director Chris Renaud addressed the franchise's future after concluding that movie with what felt like a farewell to the Minions.
"Look, I can only speak for myself and I was a big part of pushing that scene and how it came together and, for me, yes. And what I mean is, listen, I know that Despicable Me 4 in the theater is doing so well. They’ve already got Minions 3. But I thought it was an interesting opportunity given the 15 — heck, 16 or 17 years for me personally working on it, to bring some of the characters across the 'universe' together for this great moment. And sort of have it as a fun reunion/crossover. Actually you just saw it in Deadpool & Wolverine. It’s something that’s out there in the language. And so I think that, for me, I will admit that I thought of it that way while also fully understanding that it probably wouldn’t be."
"But I think what I would say to that is that’s what’s interesting about these characters. The best example is Batman, one of my favorite characters of all time. Even a guy like Matt Reeves very recently. they reinvent and reinvent and reinvent. I mean, so there’s always an opportunity to do that. So even though Chris Nolan’s Batman ended, well, hey, another filmmaker comes along and says, 'I got an idea.' And I think that the fun about these kinds of worlds is that there’s always an opportunity for these characters to live again, just by their nature. They’re animated, they’re drawings. For me, that was in my head as we were doing it. I also completely understood that wasn’t the reality of the situation particularly."
Stay tuned for news on Minions 3, a.k.a. Minions & Monsters, as we have it.