Megamind


Megamind is a 2010 American animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. Directed by Tom McGrath, the film features the voices of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross and Brad Pitt. It tells the story of Megamind, a highly intelligent extraterrestrial supervillain. After defeating his long-time nemesis Metro Man, Megamind creates a new hero to fight, but must act to save the city when his creation becomes evil.
Megamind premiered in Russia on October 28, 2010, and was released in the United States on November 5 by Paramount Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $322 million against a $130 million budget. In the years following its release, the film gained a cult following via a variety of Internet memes.
The film later spawned a franchise, including a trio of video games and a short film, Megamind: The Button of Doom, which was included in the film's home media releases. A sequel, Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate and a follow-up television series, Megamind Rules!, premiered on Peacock in 2024.

Plot

Supervillain Megamind and his polar opposite, superhero Metro Man, are extraterrestrials of different species who were both independently sent to Earth as infants before a black hole destroyed their planets. Though both land in Metro City simultaneously, Metro Man is raised in a rich mansion and Megamind in a prison. At the school they attend, Metro Man is well-liked by his classmates, while Megamind is relentlessly bullied until he reaches his breaking point, setting off a rivalry between him and Metro Man.
Over the years, Megamind and his fish-like assistant and best friend Minion frequently and unsuccessfully battle Metro Man for control of the city. On the day of the new Metro Man Museum's grand opening, Megamind escapes prison, kidnaps news reporter Roxanne Ritchi, and lures Metro Man to an abandoned observatory to rescue her. Megamind blasts him with a sun-powered death ray; Metro Man is unable to escape, having stated that the copper-lined observatory roof weakens his powers. Overjoyed, Megamind takes over the city and executes a crime spree, but eventually becomes depressed and purposeless without Metro Man to oppose him.
Megamind decides to blow up the Metro Man Museum to forget the hero, but sees Roxanne is also there; as he runs, he dehydrates the museum's curator, Bernard, turning him into a small cube. Disguised as Bernard using hologram technology, Megamind talks to Roxanne, whose remarks inspire him to use Metro Man's DNA to create a new superhero to fight. Megamind perfects the formula, but during a fight between him and Roxanne in his lair, he accidentally injects it into Hal Stewart, Roxanne's cameraman who is infatuated with her.
Disguising himself via hologram as Hal's "Space Dad", Megamind trains Hal to become a superhero. Hal, seeing this as a chance to win Roxanne's heart, accepts and takes on the name "Titan". Megamind begins to date Roxanne while disguised as Bernard, and he and Minion have a falling out over Megamind's apparent lack of interest in committing further crimes. Roxanne rejects Tighten when he comes to court her and Tighten later witnesses her on a date with Megamind disguised as Bernard. After a heartbroken Tighten leaves, Megamind's disguise fails and Roxanne rejects him as well.
Megamind arranges to fight Tighten the next day, but soon learns that Tighten is now using his powers to conduct a crime spree. Tighten offers to ally with Megamind, who deliberately reveals his disguises and deceptions to goad Tighten into fighting. Angered, Tighten savagely beats Megamind in the fight. Realizing that Tighten is uninterested in justice and means to kill him, Megamind traps Tighten in a copper ball, but it fails when Tighten easily breaks out. Going to a reluctant Roxanne for help, she and Megamind arrive at Metro Man's old hideout, the old school house they attended. There, they discover that he is still alive, having faked his weakness and death after having become tired of protecting Metro City, followed by renaming himself "Music Man" to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. Megamind attempts to enlist his help against Tighten, but Music Man refuses; he instead encourages Megamind to become the city's new hero by telling him that a hero will always rise to defeat evil.
Dejected, Megamind willingly returns to prison. Tighten goes on a rampage and kidnaps Roxanne when she tries to reason with him. On a televised message, Tighten holds Roxanne hostage and demands that Megamind fight him. Regretting his actions of trying to kill Metro Man in the first place, a redeemed Megamind escapes prison with the help of Minion and reconciles with him. He goes to confront Tighten, using holographic disguises to appear as Metro Man, with Minion as Megamind, to frighten Tighten away and rescue Roxanne. However, Megamind's speech patterns reveal his identity and Tighten attacks Megamind, throwing him into the stratosphere. Dehydrating himself into a cube and landing safely in a fountain, Megamind re-hydrates next to Tighten and extracts the DNA from him, reverting him back to his former self. After Hal is arrested, Megamind rekindles his relationship with Roxanne, while the city celebrates Megamind as their new hero. The museum is rebuilt in Megamind's honor; a disguised Music Man additionally attends the grand re-opening.

Voice cast

  • Will Ferrell as Megamind, a blue-skinned and humanoid alien supervillain with a large skull. He is a parody of Lex Luthor and Brainiac The home release commentary notes that his costume and showmanship are purposely evocative of Alice Cooper.
  • * Ferrell voices Megamind in his disguises as Bernard and Hal's "Space Dad" in the second act of the movie and Minion in his disguise as Megamind in the film's climax, due to those roles being uncredited from the film's end credits. The "Space Dad" persona is a parody of both the physical resemblance of Jor-El as played by Marlon Brando in the 1978 film Superman and Brando's voice as Vito Corleone in The Godfather.
  • Tina Fey as Roxanne "Roxie" Ritchi, a strong-willed news reporter who becomes Megamind's love interest. She is a parody of Lois Lane.
  • Brad Pitt as Metro Man / Music Man, Megamind's former nemesis who leaves his superhero life to pursue a new career in music. He is a parody of Superman. The home release commentary notes that his costume and showmanship are purposely evocative of Elvis Presley.
  • * Pitt also voices Megamind in his disguise as Metro Man in the film's climax, due to that role being uncredited from the film's end credits.
  • Jonah Hill as Hal Stewart / Tighten, Roxie's hapless, dimwitted cameraman who has an unrequited crush on her. Given powers by Megamind to become a superhero named Titan, he instead becomes a supervillain. His name is in reference to Hal Jordan and John Stewart of the Green Lantern Corps.
  • David Cross as Minion, a talking fish who has been Megamind's sidekick and best friend since childhood. His costume is evocative of Ro-Man from Robot Monster.
  • J. K. Simmons as The Warden, the head of Metro City Prison.
  • * Simmons also voices Megamind in his disguise as the Warden during his escape in the beginning of the movie, and Minion in his disguise as the Warden right before the film's climax, due to those roles being uncredited from the film's end credits.
  • Ben Stiller as Bernard, a museum curator whom Megamind impersonates to win Roxie's heart.
  • Christopher Knights as Prison Guard
  • Tom McGrath as Lord Scott / Prison Guard
  • Jack Blessing as Newscaster
  • Justin Theroux and Jessica Schulte as Megamind's parents
  • Rob Corddry as Random Citizen

    Production

The film was written by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons. It was first titled Master Mind, and then Oobermind. It was originally suggested that Ben Stiller would be cast as Megamind, and later Robert Downey Jr. but Will Ferrell was ultimately given the role, due to "scheduling conflicts" for Downey. Stiller was instead cast in a minor role as the curator named Bernard. Lara Breay and Denise Nolan Cascino were the film's producers, and Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld were the executive producers. Justin Theroux and Guillermo del Toro worked as creative consultants on the film. Del Toro came on board three weeks before the end of production, but went on to have a more substantial role in subsequent DreamWorks Animation films. The opening of the film, where Megamind is falling to his apparent death, was del Toro's idea. Del Toro also convinced them to cut 7 minutes of finished animation from the movie.

Music

Megamind: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the film, featuring a score composed by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe, and released on November 2, 2010, by Lakeshore Records.
Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" was also used in the scene where Megamind and Tighten have their last battle.

Release

Theatrical

Megamind premiered on October 28, 2010, in Russia, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 5, 2010. It was supposed to be released in Japan on March 12, 2011, but due to the earthquake and tsunami a day before, the Japanese release was cancelled until June 2018.

Marketing

Megamind was promoted at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, with Tom McGrath, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and Will Ferrell, who was dressed as Megamind.

Home media

It was released on both Blu-ray Disc and DVD on February 25, 2011, accompanied with an all-new short titled Megamind: The Button of Doom. The Button of Doom also had its television premiere on Nickelodeon, which was aired on February 26, 2011. It was the seventh-best-selling DVD of 2011 with over 3 million units sold. The film made a total of $70.4 million in DVD and Blu-ray sales. As of November 2012, 5.6 million home entertainment units were sold worldwide.
The film was released on Blu-ray 3D in March 2011 exclusively as a part of Samsung 3D Starter Kits, and on September 11, 2011, exclusively at Best Buy stores. In 2014, the film's distribution rights were purchased by DreamWorks Animation from Paramount Pictures and transferred to 20th Century Fox; the rights are now owned by Universal Pictures, following NBCUniversal's 2016 acquisition of DreamWorks Animation.