Despicable Me 3 is a 2017 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to Despicable Me 2 (2013), the third main installment, and the fourth overall installment in the Despicable Me franchise. The film was directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, co-directed by production and character designer Eric Guillon, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, from a screenplay by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Trey Parker, Coffin, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Jenny Slate, Dana Gaier, Nev Scharrel, and Julie Andrews. In the film, Gru teams up with his long-lost twin brother Dru to stop Balthazar Bratt, a former child actor of the 1980s, from destroying Hollywood after his show was canceled years ago.
Development on a third main Despicable Me film began in 2013 with Coffin returning as director alongside Balda. The film was in the early writing stages by 2014, while the cast was announced in 2016. Heitor Pereira and Pharrell Williams returned for the music like the first two films.
Despicable Me 3 debuted at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 14, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 30. Despite mixed reviews, it grossed $1.035 billion worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2017 and the fourth-highest-grossing animated film of all time during its theatrical run. A sequel, Despicable Me 4, was released in 2024.