By Vic Medina | 8 seconds ago
We are about to be blessed with a new Minions movie, as Illumination’s Minions: Rise of Gru premieres in theaters on July 1st. The latest spinoff in the Despicable Me series once again stars Steve Carell as Gru, and to promote the film, Illumination has given us the mashup we’ve all secretly hoped for: the Minions in Carell’s other comedy hit, The Office, As part of a promotion for the upcoming film, the official The Office YouTube account has posted a recreation of the NBC series’ iconic opening, with Gru and the Minions standing in for the human cast.
If you’re a fan of The Office, you’ll likely recognize every reference to the series crammed into the 33-second clip. There are some pretty sly Minions “Easter Eggs” if you look closely, as MovieWeb points out, from the Grumobile to the “Villain Con” banner to the Gru logo in the opening shot. The video is incredibly well-done, with gags in nearly every shot (some lasting just a second), so you may have to pause the video to catch them all. Dunder Mifflin is now “Dunder Minion,” for example, and Minion Bucks, Kelly’s “It Is Your Birthday” banner, and the Dwight “pervert” sketch are all seen. Kevin the Minion stands in for Dwight, who once again has his stapler stuck inside Jello (with a matching bobblehead, to boot). Stuart plays Jim, Bob plays Pam, and Otto makes for a perfect Kevin, spilling chili with bananas in it.
Some of the best moments from The Office are recreated, including the Resuscitation Dummy Mask, Angela throwing her cat into the ceiling (with Gru’s dog Kyle standing in), and the Dundee Award is now Gru himself. Gru, of course, stands in for Michael Scott, which is appropriate, given that Steve Carell played both characters. If you look close enough, you’ll even see Gru’s family picture hanging in the regional manager’s office. This isn’t the first time Michael Scott and Gru have been mixed together: in this Access Hollywood interview, Steve Carell delivers Michael Scott lines as Gru, and it’s hilarious.
The video not only promotes the release of the new Minions movie, it points out that “Extended Superfan” episodes of The Office are available to view on Peacock, the NBC/Universal streaming service. The “Superfan” episodes, from the first four seasons of the series, include additional scenes not shown on television, and are a must-watch for true fans. There are rumors of a possible Office reboot or spinoff, but nothing official has been announced. The original Despicable Me and Minions movies are also available to stream on Peacock.
Steve Carell left The Office in 2011, after the end of season seven, and went on to a very successful film career. Although he never won an Emmy for his work on the show as Michael Scott (he was nominated six times), he did win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, and he went on to star in some successful film comedies, including The 40 Year Old Virgin and Get Smart, However, he shocked everyone with his dramatic acting skills, even earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in 2014 for Foxcatcher, He most recently starred in the comedy/satire series Space Force for Netflix.
