Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish took to the CinemaCon stage to introduce new footage from “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” and to tease the rivalry that their characters will have in the film.
Unfortunately for Hart, things didn’t go quite to plan. He and Haddish came out on stage holding the respective animals they play in the film: a Shih Tzu and a rabbit. But Hart couldn’t stick to the script as the rabbit tried to scramble out of his arms.
“He thinks there’s pellets coming out of my ass!” he yelled.
The sequel sees Hart return as Snowball, the loud pet rabbit who takes up a new identity as a superhero, while Haddish plays a Shih Tzu who comes to him for help and ends up needing to repeatedly save him. Meanwhile, Max the Terrier comes to terms with his fears and learns what it truly takes to be the alpha he always hoped he could be.
The first “Secret Life of Pets” was a huge hit for Illumination as it continues to expand beyond the “Despicable Me” franchise. The film grossed $875 million worldwide, including $368.3 million domestically. The latter figure makes it the highest grossing animated film in North America not released by Disney or Pixar.
Eric Stonestreet, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan and director Chris Renaud all reprise their roles from the original film, with Harrison Ford joining the cast in the first animated role of his career. Patton Oswalt replaces Louis C.K. as Max after the latter was ousted from the project over sexual harassment accusations.
“The Secret Life of Pets 2” hits theaters June 7.