George Lucas is making his grand return to Hollywood, nearly 15 years after selling Lucasfilm to the Walt Disney Company in 2012.
The 82-year-old filmmaker icon, responsible for creating the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises, will voice a character in the new Minions & Monsters movie, according to Chris Meledandri, the founder of the animation studio Illumination.
“I had this privilege of meeting George about two years ago, and what led to my meeting him is how much he loves Illumination movies, and specifically Despicable Me, and even more specifically, the Minions,” Meledandri told Collider.
It was during their initial meeting that Meledandri had the epiphany to write a special part for Lucas in the next Minions film.
“An idea for a character came up out of the story, and so I said to Pierre [Coffin], who co-wrote the movie with Brian Lynch, and Bill Ryan, who produces with me on the film, and I just said, ‘Well, what if we could get George?’ And they’re like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I had no idea, but I got such a fast yes,” he recalled.
“It was incredible,” Meledandri said, adding that they are “thrilled” to have him in the forthcoming movie.
“I saw him recently,” he noted, “and he’s already talking to me about the role he wants to do next in the next Minions movie.”
Lucas’s role in the seventh entry of the family adventure film series — which follows the yellow, oblong-shaped creatures as they attempt to save the world from monsters they accidentally unleashed — remains under wraps.
The Independent has contacted Lucas’s representative for comment.
French anime director Coffin, who serves as the primary voice behind the minions in the popular Despicable Me franchise, will return for Minions & Monsters. He will be joined by new cast members Lucas, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeff Bridges, Zoey Deutch and Christoph Waltz.
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The new role will be Lucas’s first acting gig since lending his voice to the TV short Robot Chicken: Star Wars in 2007. His limited list of acting credits consists mostly of single-episode cameos in The O.C. and Just Shoot Me!, as well as uncredited roles in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Men in Black (1997), Hook (1991) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).
He is better known as the founder of Lucasfilm and creator of the fictional Star Wars and Indiana Jones universes. He served as the production company’s chairman before Disney acquired it for $4.05 billion in 2012. Months before the deal, Lucas appeared to announce his retirement.
“I’m moving away from all my businesses, I’m finishing all my obligations and I’m going to retire to my garage with my saw and hammer and build hobby movies,” Lucas told The New York Times in January 2012. “I’ve always wanted to make movies that were more experimental in nature, and not have to worry about them showing in movie theatres.”
Minions & Monsters is out in theaters July 1.