Those sweet, chattering Minions certainly are turning into small, yellow cash cows for Universal and creators Illumination Entertainment. Despicable Me has spawned not just a sequel (due to hit on June 28 this year), but also a Minions spin-off, which has just  locked in Sandra Bullock for the lead voice.

We also have some proper plot information about the film, which will reveal more of the backstory for the yellow perils. We now learn that they’ve been around for eons, faithfully serving history’s most ambitious villains, but somehow managing to also thwart and, ultimately kill them through no real fault of their own.

The plot picks up in 1960 (long before they meet Despicable's Gru) where the little guys are in a collective funk after wiping out all their previous masters. So they head to a villain convention, looking to find someone to lead them. Audrey Hepburn-styled baddie Scarlet Overkill (Bullock) seems like the best option, as she’s aiming to become the world’s first female supervillain.

With a script by Brian Lynch and Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin behind the camera, the movie, which may now just be called Minions, is set for release on December 19, 2014.

Bullock will next crop up in The Heat opposite Melissa McCarthy, with the cop comedy set for July 31. She’ll then be seen in Alfonso Cuaron’s ambitious sci-fi pic Gravity, which lands on October 4.