Secret Life of Pets 2 to be released in 2018

Less than a month after The Secret Life of Pets ran wild at the box office, Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment have announced a sequel to the animated adventure.

Set for release on July 13, 2018, the follow-up to the film will once again be directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me) and written by Brian Lynch (Minions). Illumination CEO and founder Chris Meledandri and collaborator Janet Healy will produce.

The film arrived in theaters on July 8 and helped bolster what’s fast becoming a record year for animation. The movie — which follows two uptown dogs (Louis C.K. and Eric Stonestreet) lost in manic Manhattan trying to find their way home — opened to a best-ever original animation gross of $104 million and has since raked in $400 million worldwide. It’s presently sitting pretty as the seventh highest-grossing domestic release this year (Finding Dory is the top, and Zootopia clocks in at No. 5).

The movie’s primary voice cast includes Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Dana Carvey, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell, Hannibal Buress, and Bobby Moynihan.