Skip to footer

Al Pacino leaves 'Despicable Me 2' two months before premiere date

Al Pacino, who was set to voice the villain in the animated sequel 'Despicable Me 2,' has left production two months before the film's release date. Despite Al Pacino's departure, the movie will be released as planned with actor Benjamin Bratt stepping in.

|
Victoria Will/Invision/AP
Al Pacino will not voice the villain in 'Despicable Me 2' as planned.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Actor Al Pacino has left the animated movie “Despicable Me 2,” in which he was set to play the movie’s villain.

Pacino departed the film’s production because of “creative differences,” according to MSN Entertainment. The move comes two months before the film’s premiere date, which is set for July 3.

According to Deadline, the actor had finished most of the voicework needed to play the film’s villain, Eduardo.

“We have mutually decided with Al to replace the voice of Eduardo with a new actor,” the film’s studio, Universal Pictures, told Deadline. “Universal and Illumination thank Al for his many contributions to the process and look forward to a new actor bringing this memorable character to the screen upon its release this summer.”

Actor Benjamin Bratt of “Law & Order” is set to replace Pacino. The actor has done voice work before, in the 2009 animated film “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”

The first film, “Despicable Me,” was a smash hit for Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment. It starred Steve Carell as Gru, a bumbling supervillain who tries to further his evil plans by adopting three girls (Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Kate Fisher), but finds himself growing fond of his new children despite his efforts to stay focused on his competition with fellow villain Vector (Jason Segel).

Carell, Cosgrove, Gaier, and Fisher are all slated to return for the film’s sequel. “Bridesmaids” actress Kristen Wiig, who voiced a sadistic orphanage owner in the first film, is also set to come back for the new movie, though oddly in what seems to be a new role – her character is listed as Lucy Wilde in the “Despicable Me 2” credits, not orphanage owner Miss Hattie. Actor Russell Brand will reprise his role as Gru’s helper Dr. Nefario.

Actors Ken Jeong and Steve Coogan have come on board for the sequel as well.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Al Pacino leaves 'Despicable Me 2' two months before premiere date
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2013/0507/Al-Pacino-leaves-Despicable-Me-2-two-months-before-premiere-date
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe