PARIS — Pierre Coffin will return to direct the upcoming film "Minions & Monsters," scheduled for release on a Wednesday in July 2026. He will also co-write the script for the film with Brian Lynch.

Coffin, a French Indonesian animator who lives in Paris, previously told Chris Meledandri, chief executive of Illumination, that he intended to stop directing after "Despicable Me 3." "I told him: I got to move on. I did my trilogy, my prequel — I'm good. I can help with the voices, no problem. But I want to move on," Coffin said. "That's why I kind of disappeared from the series." He directed "Despicable Me 3," which was released in 2017, and also co-directed the film "Despicable Me" 16 years prior to 2026. Coffin additionally directed "Despicable Me 2" and the film "Minions." "Minions & Monsters" marks the third standalone feature for the Minions.

Illumination productions are based in Paris. In the new film, the Minions attempt to make a monster movie in 1920s Hollywood. Meledandri suggested the premise for "Minions & Monsters." The Minions franchise has generated more than $5 billion in box office revenue across seven films. The film "Minions: The Rise of Gru" was released in 2022. The Minions were originally designed like hulking thugs for "Despicable Me" before their design was refined to resemble robots and then mole men.

Coffin voices the Minions and is the creator of Minionese. He maintains a file on his phone containing Indian dishes and words to use in Minionese. "I have this file on my phone of Indian dishes or weird words," he said. He also noted that people offer suggestions for phrases. "People come up to me and say, 'You should say that!' and I write it down."

Coffin's father was an Indonesian novelist. He expressed a distinction in how he views the Minions. "I don't necessarily like it and it's strange to me," he said. Coffin surveyed individuals about how they met their best friends while writing "Minions & Monsters." He said this clarified a concept for him: "That made it very clear to us: The Minions are kids."