‘Despicable Me’ Director Working With Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart on New Animated Feature

An upcoming film from Illumination Entertainment, best known for the Despicable Me franchise, will star Louis C.K. as a spoiled terrier. Kevin Hart and Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) will have supporting roles. Despicable Me‘s Chris Renaud will direct a screenplay from Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. Chris Meledandri will be one of the film’s producers.

The film has no title at this time though Illumination has shared some plot information. Louis C.K.’s terrier will team up with a scruffier dog played by Stonestreet to thwart the plans of an evil bunny rabbit (Hart) attempting to rally all abandoned pets of the neighborhood into a fighting force.

This untitled project will be Illumination’s first original effort since the mostly forgotten Hop, an animated comedy about the Easter Bunny. The studio has mostly relied on the success of the Despicable Me franchise and has both a spinoff and Part 3 in production along with How the Grinch Stole Christmas, their second Dr. Seuss adaptation. Pulling Chris Renaud off of Despicable Me at least long enough to direct this pet adventure suggests a shift in priorities by Illumination to put up more competition for Pixar and Dreamworks. We shall see if Illumination is ready to expand its profile when this project reaches theaters on February 12, 2016.