Great news for fans of yellow, overall-ed, banana creatures - Despicable Me 3 is in the pipeline. Unfortunately, it’s quite a long pipeline – on Wednesday, Universal announced the release of the animated feature for June 30, 2017, The Hollywood Reporter says. The news follows the extremely successful release of Despicable Me 2, which has earned more than $973 million globally to date. 

Steve Carell, The Way Way Back Premiere
It's too early for cast announcements at this point, but Steve Carell will probably return for the third film.

Despicable Me 3 is part of a Universal’s packed animation calendar for the following years. A new adaptation of Doctor Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas has been scheduled for November 17, 2017. The film, based on the beloved kids book, will be directed by Pete Candeland from a script adapted by Michael LeSieur. This feature film adaptation will be released 17 years after the Ron Howard version, starring Jim Carrey and Taylor Momsen played in theaters - just in case you needed to feel old in comparison.

Jim Carrey, Book Signing
After Jim Carreys's Grinch, the character is returning to its animated roots.

Both movies are from Chris Meledandri's Illumination Entertainment, the powerhouse behind the Despicable Me franchise. There is also an as-of-yet untitled Illumination project, coming to screens on December 21, 2016.

The film’s premise and plot are so far being kept secret by the studio, but given its release date, it’s a fairly safe bet that the production will be a holiday film. Garth Jennings has been drafted to write the screenplay and direct. Jennings has experience in the action, adventure and comedy genres, having directed 2005’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.