‘Ernest & Celestine’ Director Benjamin Renner Will Helm An Illumination Comedy About Ducks

Comcast-NBCUniversal’s animation studio Illumination Entertainment has revealed details about two new films: an original comedy and a franchise installment.

Details follow:

• Migration is directed by Benjmain Renner, who was a director on the French features Ernest & Celestine and The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales. He’ll work from an original screenplay by Mike White (School of Rock, The White Lotus).
• The film, reports Deadline, is about “a family of ducks who convince their over-protective father to go on the vacation of a lifetime as they attempt to migrate from New England, through New York City, and ultimately down to the Bahamas.”
• Migration is dated June 30, 2023.
• Illumination’s flagship franchise, Despicable Me, is getting a fourth installment. The film is slotted for July 23, 2024.
• Illumination house director Chris Renaud (Despicable Me 1 & 2, The Secret Life of Pets 1 & 2, Lorax) will direct the film. Patrick Delage, formerly an animation director, will co-direct the film. White again wrote the script.
• Illumination’s current film in theaters, Sing 2, has grossed over $300M worldwide (including $143M domestically). It is the highest-grossing theatrical animation release since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
• The studio’s next film, Minions: The Rise of Gru, which has been repeatedly delayed due to Covid, will debut in theaters July 1, 2022.