The first clip has been released from Despicable Me 2.  In the new film, Gru (Steve Carell) is kidnapped by the “Anti-Villain League”, and recruited in order to defeat a new super villain.  As we saw in the latest trailer, Gru seems to have settled comfortably into domestic life, and this clip continues the charming relationship he has with his adopted children.  It’s a cute scene that will probably feel slightly familiar to parents who don’t want to deal with annoying neighbors.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also features the voices of Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Ken Jeong, Steve Coogan, Dana Gaier, Elsie Kate Fisher, Miranda Cosgrove, and Russell Brand.  Despicable Me 2 opens in 3D on July 3rd.

We haven’t seen too much from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s animated family-friendly sequel Despicable Me 2, but we can expect to hear even less from Al Pacino as the veteran actor has left the picture.  Pacino had come onto the film to replace Javier Bardem as the new antagonist, but apparently creative differences have led to a parting of ways.  Although Pacino has done a fair amount of work on the film, the studio is already looking for an actor to replace him in order to make their early July release date.

Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud are directing the sequel with Steve Carell reprising his role as Gru.  Other voice cast members include Kristen Wiig, Ken Jeong, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand and Steve Coogan.  Despicable Me 2 opens July 3rd.  Hit the jump for more.

If anyone ever offers you a free ride on a blimp, you say, “Yes.”  If you’re afraid of heights, you get over it.  If you have a fear of blimps, you have a very strange phobia, but still need to get over it.  When Universal offered me a chance for a blimp ride, I leaped at the opportunity.  The studio has commissioned a blimp to promote Despicable Me 2, and converted it into the “Despicablimp” by painting on a gigantic minion.  I have no idea if blimps are part of the plot for Despicable Me 2, but after today, I’m convinced all movies should incorporate blimps into their marketing campaigns.  Lincoln was a hit at the box office, but it could have been even more successful if the studio painted Daniel Day-Lewis on a blimp.  People would look in the sky, see a giant Day-Lewis looking down on them, and know that all was right with the world.  That’s how they’re going to feel when they see an adorable minion flying high above.

Hit the jump for more about my ride on Despicablimp.  Despicable Me 2 opens in 3D on July 3rd.

While I already posted the first posters for Spike Lee‘s Oldboy, James Wan‘s Insidious: Chapter 2, Robert Schwentke’s R.I.P.D., and a great display for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, I’ve still got a ton of pictures left to post.  However, rather than offering them up one article at a time, I’m grouping them all into one huge article.

While a lot of the posters you’ve previously seen, there are a few new things like the first logo for Paul Greengrass‘ Somali pirate pic Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks, the first poster for Where the Devil Hides, and the first display for Jimmy Hayward’s Free Birds starring Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson and Amy Poehler.  In addition, you can also check out posters/displays for Star Trek Into Darkness, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, Despicable Me 2, Fast and Furious 6,  Man of Steel, The Lone Ranger, The Heat, Elysium, The East, The Wolverine, The Mortal Instruments, and a lot more.

A couple of new TV spots have landed online for two upcoming animated films.  The new spot for Pixar’s Monsters University shows a bit of a new footage and makes excellent use of Andrew W.K.’s “Party Hard,” as we’re treated to a montage of clips from this monster-infused look at college life.  The prequel focuses on the budding friendship between Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and James P. Sullivan (John Goodman).  The film opens in 3D on June 21st.

The other TV spot shines some light on Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s sequel Despicable Me 2.  We recently saw a new full-length trailer for the follow-up, but this TV spot primarily centers on an elaborate fart joke constructed by those adorable minions.  Featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, and Al Pacino, the film opens in 3D on July 3rd.  Hit the jump to watch both TV spots, which debuted during the Kid’s Choice Awards.

A new trailer, poster, and images are now online for Despicable Me 2.  The new trailer shows Gru (Steve Carell) being kidnapped by the “Anti-Villain League”, and being recruited in order to defeat a new super villain.  Gru seems to have softened considerably since becoming the father of Margo, Agnes, and Edith.  Unsurprisingly, the best jokes belong to the minions, and although Despicable Me 2 looks okay, I’m still more excited to see the minions’ spinoff.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, poster, and images. The film also features the voices of Kristen Wiig, Al Pacino, Miranda Cosgrove and Russell Brand.  Despicable Me 2 opens in 3D on July 3rd. 

A few new images from some anticipated upcoming 2013 releases have been released online.  Briefly:

• Oblivion – Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski helms this original sci-fi pic that sees Tom Cruise working as a drone repairman on a dystopian Earth.  The film opens on April 19th.
• World War Z – Brad Pitt fronts the epic zombie apocalypse pic from director Marc Forster.  The film opens on June 21st.
• Oz the Great and Powerful – This prequel to The Wizard of Oz is brought to life by director Sam Raimi.  The film opens in 3D on March 8th.
• Despicable Me 2 – The sequel to 2010’s animated hit finds those adorable minions front and center.  The film opens in 3D on July 3rd.

Hit the jump to check out the images and synopses.

A new trailer and three new images for the animated sequel Despicable Me 2 have been released.  Unlike the teaser, this trailer looks to have footage from the actual film.  The marketing is unsurprisingly centered on those adorable little minions, but this trailer has a pretty cute Halloween bent in keeping with today’s festivities.  It also may or may not hint at some sort of alien presence in the follow-up, but we really get very, very little by way of plot.  Universal knows that the key to getting kids excited for the sequel is showing the minions getting into all sorts of goofy shenanigans—that’s why the they have their own spinoff film in the works.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and images.  The film features the voices of Steve Carell, Al Pacino, and Steve Coogan.  Despicable Me 2 opens in 3D on July 3rd, 2013.

BrandX with Russell Brand features the British comedian’s honest and unfiltered point of view on current events, worldwide politics and popular culture. After a somewhat experimental series of six episodes, FX has ordered another seven installments that will return sometime in October, likely behind the new seasons of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League.

While at the FX portion of the TCA Press Tour, Collider got the opportunity to participate in both the show’s panel and a 1-on-1 interview with the always outrageous and often thoughtful Russell Brand, in which he talked about what the experience of this show has been like, whether it’s been more fun or more work than he expected, what he enjoys about having such honest interactions with his audience, the creative changes he’s planning to make with the show, who he would like to exchange lives with for a day, and what he would do, if he could be President of the United States. He also talked about working with Diablo Cody on her directorial debut, his career doing family films, and how it’s been difficult to book time to do his voice work for Despicable Me 2 because they keep wanting to record during his yoga class, but that he will definitely be in it, eventually. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Lots of casting news to catch up on, so here it is in brief:

• Steve Coogan (Tropic Thunder) has been cast to voice a character in Despicable Me 2, starring Steve Carell and Al Pacino.
• Malcolm McDowell (The Artist) will star in a vignette of Tbilisi, My City.
• Kyle Gallner (A Nightmare on Elm Street) is a recent addition to Beautiful Creatures, the adaptation of the Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl novel.
• Abigail Spencer (Mad Men) will join the indie drama Kilimanjaro, starring Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker).
• Vik Sahay (Chuck) rounds out the cast for the werewolf film, Wer, directed by William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside).

Hit the jump for more.

Universal has released the teaser trailer and poster for Despicable Me 2.  There aren’t any plot details or even footage from the film, but that doesn’t mean the marketing campaign can’t begin 15 months before the movie opens.  So how do you sell a movie without the movie?  The minions!  By being adorable, the minions can sell anything.  Granted, this is really more of an announcement trailer, although I have no idea why they’re “singing” the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann”.  I can’t remember if that was a thing in the first movie or not.

Hit the jump to check out the teaser trailer and poster.  The film features the voice talents of Steve Carell, Jason Segel, and Al Pacino.  Despicable Me 2 opens in 3D on July 3, 2013.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (opening in theaters on March 2^nd), is the beloved children’s story that’s also its author’s favorite work. The 3D-CG animated adaptation is an adventure that follows the journey of idealistic 12-year-old Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) while he searches for a real Truffula Tree for Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift), in order to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find one, he must learn the story of the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito) from the enigmatic and bitter old hermit, known as the Once-ler (voiced by Ed Helms), who let the temptation of greed and success get the better of him.

At the film’s press day, producer Chris Meledandri (founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment) spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how and when he first became aware of the work of Dr. Seuss, the challenge of adding original songs to The Lorax, and how much he’s enjoyed working with Audrey Geisel to protect the Dr. Seuss legacy. He also talked about the development of the live-action film Illumination is doing on the life of Theodor Geisel, the man behind the work of Dr. Seuss, that is being produced by Johnny Depp (who will possibly star in the lead role), the plan to do a mix of live-action with the animated characters of his creation, and how they are currently working on the animation for Despicable Me 2, with Al Pacino making his animated feature debut as the villain. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, the beloved children’s story that’s also its author’s favorite work, opens in theaters on March 2^nd. To promote the film’s release, Collider got to participate in the press junket and sit down with producer Chris Meledandri (founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment).

While we will run what he had to say about the film, closer to its release date, we did want to share what he had to say about the development of the live-action film Illumination is doing on the life of Theodor Geisel, the man behind the work of Dr. Seuss, that is being produced by Johnny Depp, who will possibly star in the lead role. Meledandri said that he takes the protection of the Seuss legacy very serious and will not move forward with the film until they believe it’s right, and that they are planning for it do include a mix of the animated characters of his creation. He also said they’ve just started animating Despicable Me 2, and how excited they are to have Al Pacino making his animated feature debut as the villain. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Four years after scaring the hell out of people (and winning an Oscar for it) in No Country for Old Men, Javier Bardem is taking on a baddie role again, only this time it’s just his voice. The actor is in negotiations to lend his vocal talents to a new villain in Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me 2. Heat Vision reports that Bardem will be voicing a character named El Macho, whose son is named Machito (naturally). Plot details are being kept under wraps, so unfortunately that’s all we know about the character at this time. The first film was a bona fide hit, grossing over $500 million worldwide on a budget just shy of $70 million. I wasn’t necessarily blown away by the flick, but it was amusing enough and Bardem’s addition to the sequel is definitely enticing. Steve Carell and most of the other voice actors from the original are expected to return. The voice talent on that film included Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, and Will Arnett. Click here to check out the poster for the sequel. Despicable Me 2 opens July 3rd, 2013.

Universal scored a big hit with Despicable Me and they sent a sequel into development almost immediately after the animated film opened #1 at the box office.  This past June, we reported that the studio had set Despicable Me 2 for July 3, 2013 and even though that’s ridiculously far away, the marketing has begun.  Collider reader Max has sent along the first promo poster for the movie and it proclaims “More Minions.  More Despicable.”  Unless the entire planet is getting covered in adorable minions, I don’t see how they could fit any more of the scene-stealing characters into the movie.

Hit the jump to check out the poster.