Illumination Entertainment and Universal are planning to delve deeper into The Secret Life of Pets as a sequel to the hit animated movie is officially on the way. The follow-up is on the fast track and will see co-director Chris Renaud back in the hot seat with a challenging July 13, 2018, release date to meet.

Thanks to the Despicable Me movies and its $1 billion spin-off Minions, Illumination Entertainment has become an animated force to be reckoned with in a short space of time. The launch of their latest offering, The Secret Life of Pets, was always going to be a real test of their brand of animation as it’s their first non-Despicable Me based release since The Lorax. The Secret Life of Pets has currently grossed more than $400 million worldwide with more than $300 million of that haul coming from North America. 

Unlike their Disney and Pixar counterparts, Illumination’s production budgets rarely exceed $75 million a movie compared to the average $200 million the Mouse House spends per animated project. So even if Pets doesn’t take Finding Dory sized money, Illumination's cost effective budget will see it reap similar profits. 

Illumination founder Chris Meledandri is in high demand at the moment, now that NBCUniversal has acquired Dreamworks Animation, they’ve tapped Meledandri to help them revive the Shrek franchise for multiple new sequels. There are no details on when we should expect to see the ill-tempered ogre again, but Dreamworks Animation are keen to get started soon.  

Next up in the Illumination cannon is Sing featuring the voices of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane and Scarlett Johansson, directed by Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow) the animated musical arrives in cinemas on December 16. After that, we check back in with Gru and his Minions in Despicable Me 3; the eagerly awaited sequel is released June 30, 2017.