Following the success of Despicable Me 2 (which is now on track to be Universal's biggest ever worldwide hit thanks to a boost from the Chinese box office), Illumination Entertainment has pulled the covers from one of its mystery original family films. While the new ‘toon doesn’t have an official title yet, we do know that Louis C.K. (one of the best things by a country mile in American Hustle), Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet and the increasingly ubiquitous Kevin Hart will voice characters in a tale of pets and strays.
With what sounds an animal take on Toy Story, the film – written by Despicable Me duo Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio and set to be directed by Despicable veteran Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney – finds C.K. as the happy-go-lucky rescue terrier who meets up with his fellow pets in a New York apartment building to swap stories after their owners head to work. His comfy life is threatened when his owner comes home with Duke (Stonestreet), a sloppy mongrel.
The pair somehow end up on the mean streets of the big city, and run into a bunny named Snowball (Hart), the adorable but cunning leader of an army of abandoned pets looking to get their revenge on humanity. Our unlikely canine duo must thwart the plan and make it home in time for dinner.
Illumination and Universal have staked out February 12, 2016 as the release date for this one. Before that, though, the **Minions **will be back in their own film, set for June 26 next year.