Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment announced Friday that they had dropped Louis C.K. from the sequel to the 2016 animated hit “Secret Life of Pets” in the wake of the comedian’s admission of sexual misconduct.
The new film, which had already set a June 2019 release date, will likely move forward with a new actor to voice the terrier Max.
Like the 2016 original, the sequel will look into what our pets do after we leave the house for the day. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy will produce the sequel.
The original “The Secret Life of Pets” opened in July 2016 to a massive $103.2 million during its three-day debut, earning the sixth-biggest opening weekend of all time for an animated feature — ahead of Disney-Pixar’s “Inside Out.”
It went on to gross $368.4 million domestically and $875.5 million worldwide.
Brian Lynch (“Minions”) will return to write the script for “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” which will once again be directed by Chris Renaud (the “Despicable Me” series, “Dr. Seuss‘ The Lorax”).
In addition to Louis C.K., the original vocal cast included Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Bobby Moynihan and Albert Brooks.
This is the latest Louis CK that has unraveled in the wake of revelations about the actor, who has been dropped by his agency and publicist as well as FX, Netflix and The Orchard, the indie distributor that scuttled plans to release his new movie “I Love You, Daddy.”