Louis C.K. is heading back to the pet park

Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures have announced plans to release their sequel to the unexpected hit The Secret Life of Pets, which features the 48-year-old Mexican American actor as part of the voice cast, in the summer of 2018.

The announcement comes on the heels that the animated film has barked, meowed and hopped its way to more than $400M at the worldwide box office.

Domestically, the total through Tuesday is $300.3M. Internationally, where there is still a lot of rollout to come, the total is $103.5M.

The sequel is set for release on July 13, 2018.

Domestically, Pets debuted in early July as the best opening for an original film, animated or otherwise, with a $104.4M start, and held the No. 1 spot for two weekends.

Voiced by Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart and a litter of other well-known names, its next high-profile Continental launch will be at the Venice Film Festival, where Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri will be honored.

For pet owners and the pet-curious, the concept of what our pets get up to when we leave the house is universal and clearly has clicked in a highly animated summer. Pets has opened No. 1 in 18 offshore markets to date and has 48 more territories to go.