The Secret Life of Pets 2

The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a 2019 American 3D computer animated comedy film produced by Illumination, directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Jonathan del Val, and written by Brian Lynch. It is the sequel to The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and the second feature film in the franchise. The film features the voices of Patton Oswalt (who replaces Louis C.K.), Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Tiffany Haddish, Lake Bell, Nick Kroll, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, and Harrison Ford.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 7, 2019, by Universal Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed over $298 million worldwide.

Plot
Sometime after the events of the first film, Max and Duke's owner Katie gets married and have a child of their own, Liam. At first, Max feels uneasy by his presence but eventually grows an affinity to him. Thinking of how dangerous the outdoors could be for Liam, Max develops an itch and gets a dog cone as treatment. Max's luck changes when Duke reveals that the family is taking a road trip outside of the city.

When Max and Duke's family reaches a farm, Max feels unaccustomed to the farm's ways, including the farm's sheepdog, Rooster. After an incident with the farm's sheep, Rooster takes Max out to find one of the missing sheep that ran away. Rooster's teaching and encouragement to Max about acting unafraid prompts Max to successfully retrieve the missing sheep. Rooster allows Max to stay with him overnight as a result. Before departure, Rooster gives Max one of his handkerchiefs as a souvenir.

Earlier, before Max left, he had entrusted his favorite toy, Busy Bee, to Gidget. Unfortunately, Gidget loses Busy Bee in a cat-infested apartment inhabited by a cat lady. After training received by Chloe on how to "be a cat", she sneaks in and successfully retrieves Busy Bee. Unintentionally, she gets hailed as the "queen of cats" after a staged defeat of the "red dot".

Meanwhile, Chloe and Snowball meet Daisy, who explains that she needs "Captain Snowball" Snowball's superhero persona, to assist her with rescuing a white tiger named Hu. While on flight to the city, Daisy encountered him being held captive by an abusive circus owner named Sergei. Daisy and Snowball sneak in and find Hu. With much difficulty from Sergei's black wolves, they free Hu from the circus; however, in the heat of the escape, Daisy accidentally drops her flower clip, which the wolves use to track her down.

She and Snowball take him to Pops' apartment. Pops reluctantly lets Hu stay for a night, but due to his destruction of the apartment afterwards, Hu is kicked out so they hide him in Max's apartment. Around then, Max and Duke's family returns from the trip. Sergei and his wolves track Daisy down and capture Hu. Daisy sees Sergei escaping in his train so Snowball, Max, and Norman chase the train down while contacting Gidget for assistance. She and the cats take the cat lady's car.

Snowball and Max defeat Sergei's pet monkey Little Sergei and the wolves respectively, and free Daisy and Hu. Max, using his newfound bravery Rooster gave him, successfully infiltrates the train, where he and the rest of the animals kick Sergei off the train. Before the ringmaster could kill them, Gidget knocks him out with the cat lady's car and offers the animals a ride back home. Life resumes normally, with Max's family saying goodbye to Liam as he enters his first day of preschool.

In a mid-credits scene, Snowball creates a rap troupe, which only lasts a few moments before his owner Molly enters the room.

Cast

 * Patton Oswalt as Max, a Jack Russell Terrier. He was voiced by Louis C.K. in the previous film.
 * Eric Stonestreet as Duke, a large, brown, shaggy Newfoundland mix who lives with Max.
 * Kevin Hart as Snowball, a white rabbit and former flushed pet.
 * Jenny Slate as Gidget, a white Pomeranian.
 * Tiffany Haddish as Daisy, a Shih Tzu.
 * Lake Bell as Chloe, a morbidly obese and apathetic grey tabby cat.
 * Nick Kroll as Sergei, an abusive circus owner.
 * Dana Carvey as Pops, an elderly Basset Hound whose back legs are paralyzed.
 * Ellie Kemper as Katie, Max and Duke's owner, Chuck's wife and Liam's mother.
 * Chris Renaud as Norman, a guinea pig.
 * Hannibal Buress as Buddy, a laid-back dachshund.
 * Bobby Moynihan as Mel, a hyperactive pug.
 * Harrison Ford as Rooster, a Welsh Sheepdog.
 * Pete Holmes as Chuck, Katie's husband and Liam's father.
 * Tara Strong as Sweetpea, a green and yellow budgie parakeet.
 * Meredith Salenger as a cat lady.
 * Henry Lynch as Liam, Katie and Chuck's son.
 * Sean Giambrone as Cotton, a young lamb who Max and Rooster save from a cliff.
 * Michael Beattie as Lead Wolf, the leader of Sergei's trained wolves.
 * Michael Beattie also voices a skinny cat
 * Kiely Renaud as Molly, Snowball's owner.
 * Garth Jennings as a hamster.

Production
On August 2, 2016, Universal Pictures and Illumination announced a sequel to their 2016 animated film The Secret Life of Pets with director Chris Renaud and writer Brian Lynch returning, and Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy producing. The Oatmeal writer Matthew Inman worked on the film as a creative consultant.

In November 2017, it was announced that Louis C.K. would not reprise his role as Max after being accused of and later admitting to sexual misconduct with a number of women. In April 2018, it was announced that Patton Oswalt would replace C.K. as Max while Hart, Stonestreet, Slate, Kemper, Bell, Carvey, Buress, and Moynihan would reprise their roles. Additional casting includes Tiffany Haddish, Nick Kroll, Harrison Ford and Pete Holmes.

Soundtrack
Ben Gregson-Williams and Alexandre Desplat, who composed the score of the first film, returned for the sequel. The soundtrack was released by Back Lot Music on May 31, 2019.

Release
The Secret Life of Pets 2 was released in the United States on June 7, 2019 by Universal Pictures. It was previously set for a July 13, 2018 release, and then July 3, 2019. The film was released in the United Kingdom two weeks earlier on May 24, 2019.

Marketing
Leading up to the movie’s release, a few character trailers were issued, featuring Max, Chloe, Snowball, Daisy, Gidget, and Rooster, respectively. On April 11, 2019 (National Pet Day), the first official full trailer dropped. The final trailer was released on May 16, 2019.

Home media
The film will be released on Digital on August 13, 2019 and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on August 27, 2019. It will include two mini-movies: Super Gidget, and Minion Scouts.

Box office
, The Secret Life of Pets 2 has grossed $147.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $151.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $298.8 million, against a production budget of $80 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Dark Phoenix, and was initially projected to gross around $60 million in its opening weekend. The film played in 4,561 theaters, the second-widest release of all-time at the time. After making $17.4 million on its first day (including $2.2 million from Thursday night previews, down from the first film's $5.3 million), estimates were lowered to $46 million. It went on to debut to $46.7 million, less than half the opening of the first film, but still finishing first at the weekend box office. In its second weekend the film made $24.4 million, finishing second behind newcomer Men in Black: International.

In the United Kingdom, the film debuted to $4.1 million from 613 theaters on the May 24 weekend. A week later, the film expanded to Russia and added a combined $17.2 million from the two countries.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59% based on 133 reviews with an average rating of 5.71/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Secret Life of Pets 2 doesn't teach its animated stars any new narrative tricks -- but for fans of the original, this funny, energetic sequel should still satisfy." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as the first film, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Sequel
While there are not yet official talks, the cast is interested in doing a third installment.