"The Secret Life of Pets" hit animation sequel gets release date

PanARMENIAN.Net - The sequel to "The Secret Life of Pets" is officially getting a release date. After the first film has successfully bagged more than $400 million at the worldwide box office, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures have now announced that "The Secret Life of Pets 2" is slated for a July 13, 2018 release, AceShowbiz reports.

Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri along with his longtime collaborator Janet Healy will return to produce the second film. Chris Renaud, whose credits also included the "Despicable Me" animated film series and Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax", will be back to direct the sequel and scribe Brian Lynch ("Minions") will also return to pen the script.

The first "Pets" film was released this past July 8 to a massive opening weekend. Scoring $104.4 million in its first week, the film marked the largest opening ever for an original film not based on previous source material and surpassed "Inside Out (2015)" which bagged $90.4 million in its opening weekend. It was also the No. 6 opening ever for any animated film and Illumination's second-best start after last year's "Minions" ($115.7 million). "Finding Dory" broke records with $135 million opening this past June.

"The Secret Life of Pets", which features the voices of Kevin Hart, Louis C.K. and Eric Stonestreet, centers on a puppy named Max whose life changes after his owner brought a sloppy mongrel named Duke. When the two dogs play outside, they are caught by animal control agency. While Max's friends are looking for him, he meets a white bunny who is apparently a leader of a group of abandoned pets.