Disney is going full speed ahead with its animated franchises. During a recent earnings call, CEO Bob Iger announced that sequels to Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia are currently being developed for the near future.
“Today I’m so pleased to announce that we have sequels in the works from our animation studios to some of our most popular franchises, Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia,” the studio head said. “We’ll have more to share about these productions soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises.”
The announcement came in the wake of some sour news that will see a US$5.5 billion cost cut across all divisions, and the axing of 7,000 jobs at the House of Mouse. No further details were given about the creative teams involved in the development process.
All three franchises were massive hits on the silver screen, with Frozen II raking in US$1.4 billion at the box office in 2019 — on top of the US$1.2 billion brought in by the first movie. Both Zootopia and Toy Story 4 earned a global haul of more than US$1 billion each.
Between the lukewarm response to Pixar’s Lightyear and the dismal box office performance of Strange World, Disney’s recent releases have paled in comparison. The latter, in particular, tanked with under US$74 million worldwide, and was fast-tracked onto Disney+ nearly one month after its theatrical release. Encanto, in comparison, racked up just a little over US$256 million globally, but was reportedly a hit on the streamer.
As far as the studio’s 2023 animation feature slate goes, fans can look forward to Pixar’s Elemental and Disney Animation’s Wish.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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