D23 has come and gone yet again, and the Mouse House proved to be as busy as ever as it showed off its plans for television, theme parks, and—the longtime bread and butter of the media giant—movies. 6i6p1n

From Star Wars, to beloved franchises, to totally new films, to whatever the hell Dwayne Johnson is up to, here are all the film-centric announcements and reveals that reared their heads at D23 2024.

Toy Story 5, Incredibles 3, Zootopia 2, Moana 2, and Frozen 3 2z2f2v

The sequel fare took up most of D23’s film spotlight, but with announcements like Toy Story 5 and The Incredibles 3 among those ranks, even the most ruthless proponent of originality can’t be disappointed.

Incredibles 3 was the biggest reveal, as this is the first we’re hearing about the film’s existence. Toy Story 5, meanwhile, named its director in Andrew Stanton, who gifted us Wall-E and Finding Nemo in the past. Other details on this unprecedented fifth entry in this unprecedentedly successful animated franchise include 50 rogue Buzz Lightyears and electronic toys as plot elements, and a Summer 2026 release date.

Elsewhere, Moana 2 (releasing Nov. 27 later this year), Zootopia 2 (releasing Nov. 26, 2025), and Frozen 3 (releasing 2027) had trailers, clips, and concept art to show off, respectively.

Disney’s not finished with their live-action remake venture by a long shot. Beyond getting our first look at live-action Stitch from the incoming Lilo & Stitch live-action remake (due in Summer 2025), we were also given trailers for the Rachel Zegler-led Snow White (March 21, 2025), and Mufasa: The Lion King (Dec. 20 later this year), the latter of which will be a completely new story set before the events of The Lion King.

Monster Jam 4m6f51

The award for the most out-of-left-field film announcement at D23 went to Dwayne Johnson, who revealed that he’s working together with Disney on a live-action Monster Jam movie. According to the movie star/khaki enthusiast, this “immersive” film will be told “from the POV of these incredible monster trucks. Eccentric and crazy drivers.”

It’s not immediately clear if this will be a narrative feature or a documentary, so we’ll just have to wait and see what Johnson’s cooking here.

Avatar: Fire and Ash 1k11b

The third entry in James Cameron’s box office-busting Avatar series had its title revealed as Avatar: Fire and Ash. We already knew that we would be introduced to an antagonistic, fire-based Na’vi clan, but no other details beyond some concept art were released at the event.

Avatar: Fire and Ash hits theaters on Dec. 19, 2025.

Hoppers and Elio 3z6k5o

Disney isn’t just about remakes and sequels and brands; thanks to Pixar, the Mouse House had some updates on the original film front, including the first-ever reveal of Hoppers. Starring Jon Hamm, Bobby Moynihan, and Piper Curda, Hoppers follows Mabel, a young girl who can transfer her mind into a robotic beaver; an ability she uses to see what animal life is like. She later unites with a plethora of woodland creatures, including a high-ranking beaver named King George, to help protect their home from a real estate developer. Hoppers hits theaters in spring 2026.

Elio, meanwhile, got a D23-exclusive trailer as it prepares to hit theaters next summer on June 13, 2025. The sci-fi flick was originally supposed to release on March 1 earlier this year, but a change in leadership on multiple Pixar projects coupled with the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike saw it get delayed.

The Filoni era of Star Wars is set to hit the big screen for the first time on May 22, 2026 with The Mandalorian & Grogu. Footage at the event showed off Grogu in his own suit of Mandalorian Beskar armor, which will surely do wonders for Disney’s merchandizing profits.

Freakier Friday 6s5z65

Somehow, Hoppers wasn’t the biggest bodyswap-adjacent film announcement of the event. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, stars of 2003’s Freaky Friday, revealed the sequel’s title as Freakier Friday alongside some set photos featuring the duo. Freakier Friday releases in 2025.

Tron: Ares 4k2222

And, of course, the announcement that no one was queuing up for but still managed to be one of the most epic of the evening; Tron: Ares not only got some event-exclusive footage featuring the eponymous new antagonist, but it was also revealed that the film’s soundtrack would be composed by none other than Nine Inch Nails. Now, Tron may not exactly be known as a “strength to strength” franchise, but going from Daft Punk to Nine Inch Nails is a statement and a half.

Tron: Ares hits theaters on Oct. 10, 2025.

Whether we like it or not, romance and the Disney Princess brand go hand-in-hand. Every princess needs a Prince Charming—unless your name is Elsa.

Somehow, between two sequels and a million and one short films, Snow Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) of the Frozen franchise has managed to avoid being tied down by anyone besides her sister, a vengeful prince, and a few angry spirits. But many fans of the Frozen franchise are hoping that whenever Frozen 3 makes its grand debut into theaters, Elsa will finally find her own one true love.

While the idea of Elsa finding love isn’t crazy, it’s something series co-director Jennifer Lee has gone on the record to dispute. When discussing Frozen 2 with Entertainment Tonight, Lee said definitively that Elsa wouldn’t have a love interest in the sequel. Her reasoning behind that came to light after looking at Elsa’s personality post-Frozen.

“We found that this is a woman who wasn’t ready for a relationship at all. She’s carrying a lot of pressure and the weight of her kingdom on her shoulders and struggling with this call for her powers.”

– Jennifer Lee, co-director and story writer for Frozen 2

That being said, Lee didn’t rule out the idea of having Elsa find love in later films. “I don’t know if it’ll fit in the future. We haven’t asked that question, and I’m not stretching past Frozen 2 about what happens to these characters in their lives,” Lee continued. Even before Frozen 2 released, many fans were hoping for some sapphic romance for Elsa, and Lee’s comments continued to add fuel to the fire, especially after Elsa remaining single at the end of Frozen 2.

For those unaware of this group, many people were excited about Elsa remaining single at the end of Frozen, as most Disney Princesses are forced to get the guy as part of their finale, to make their story complete. Elsa broke the mold not only by eschewing a love interest the entire movie, but also not magically finding one by the end. However, some people saw Elsa’s journey of coming to with her powers as a parallel to the journey of coming out, and therefore were hoping that Elsa may have that realization in a sequel. Now, the gay Elsa camp are hoping they’ll get their wish come Frozen 3.

The argument for making Elsa queer simply comes down to representation. Every other Disney Princess has her one true love in the form of a man, including Anna (Kristen Bell), who is already happily married to her Prince Charming. And we know very well that not every princess out there is going to marry a prince. Some want to marry a princess.

Disney has been working on including more LGBTQ+ characters across all their media. They’ve thankfully grown beyond just including a gay couple in the background and even created an openly gay character in 2022’s Strange World. But turning arguably their biggest animated property into an LGBTQ+ icon? That is a mighty order.

In case you’re in the Western half of the world and don’t pay attention to other countries, many still have strict laws banning LGBTQ+ content and restricting rights for those who identify as queer or transgender. However, Disney still tries to market their movies in these territories, and has been criticized in the past for cutting out queer scenes in their films to make these movies fit within the country’s film standards.

Going back to Strange World, the film wasn’t shown in China, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Iraq, and Vietnam, among others because of its LGBTQ+ lead character. While Strange World was a new property, and therefore wasn’t a problem to lose out on those markets, Frozen 3 is a different story. Especially for China and other East Asian countries, Frozen 2 saw 10% of its massive $1.45 billion box office gross come from that area of the world.

Also, the first ever Frozen-themed park area opened in November 2023 in Disneyland Hong Kong, aptly named World of Frozen, proving that there is a huge market for the franchise in that region. Imagine how quickly that would disappear if Frozen 3 was banned from theaters due to Elsa being queer? Hong Kong itself is fairly tolerant of LGBTQ+ people, but considering the proximity to East Asian countries that aren’t, it’s natural to assume business to the World of Frozen would see a steep decline.

The unfortunate reality is that if Elsa were to be gay in Frozen 3, that creative decision would cost Disney a hefty penny and cause the worldwide popularity of Frozen to dwindle. It’s a shame that the decision to make Elsa gay would simply come down to money, but at the end of the day, Disney is a business and cares more about the bottom line than creative risk. However, with what little we know about Frozen 3 at this point, let alone Frozen 4, it’s hard to be confident in any decision Disney will make regarding Elsa’s love life.

If there’s one thing Disney is good at, it’s milking a cash-cow — or maybe a cash-mouse — so it comes as no great shock that the Frozen universe is fast on its way to become a four-film franchise.

2013’s original outing for Elsa, Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff became a cultural phenomenon up there with the very best of the studio’s animated classics, so the only surprise with 2019’s Frozen 2 was not why it existed but why it took so long to exist. Likewise, you hardly needed to use troll magic to predict both Frozen 3‘s announcement in early 2023 and then the subsequent confirmation of Frozen 4 in late 2023.

With both Disney and Disney fans unable to let the world of Arendelle go, then, when can we expect to head back into the unknown for another visit to the Mouse House’s Frozen empire (no, wait, that’s Ghostbusters)? Here’s all you need to know about Frozen 3‘s prospective release window.

When could Frozen 3 open in theaters? Estimated release window, explained 6s6e1p

To predict the future, we must first look to the past. So, first of all, Frozen 3 was initially properly spoken about when Kristen Bell semi-jokingly announced its existence on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in June 2022. The Anna actress was proven right come February 2023 when Disney officially revealed Frozen 3, Toy Story 5, and Zootopia 2 as part of its slate, although none were assigned specific release dates. In November 2023, Disney CEO Bob Iger went one further and confirmed Frozen 4 to boot.

“Frozen 3 is in the works, and there might be a Frozen 4 in the works too,” Iger revealed. “But I don’t have much to say about those films right now.” The CEO then went on to confirm that director Jennifer Lee is once again “hard at work with her team at Disney animation” on these two, which seemingly washes away those reports that Lee had stepped away from the franchise after the second chapter.

Our best guess for when the next chapter in the frosty franchise could arrive? Logic dictates that Frozen 3 could release in November 2025. There was a six-year gap between the first and second Frozen films, and with Disney ramping up work behind the scenes but still yet to give it a place on the slate, another six years between Frozen 2 and 3 also seems highly plausible.

It’s naturally way too soon for it to drop in 2024 but November 2025, mirroring the first movie’s release in November 2013 and the second’s in November 2019, could be just enough time away. Failing that, November 2026 is another likely option. If Frozen 4 is being developed back-to-back with the third film, though, then hopefully that one won’t be another half a dozen years away. It feels like there’s a good chance we could see all four films by 2030. And, yes, I felt myself age just typing that sentence.

It is officially Ahsoka Day, folks, but that doesn’t mean Disney is not capable of kicking off other, totally unrelated debates and discussions, like continuing the story of Anna and Elsa but without Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell essaying the roles.

While Ahsoka officially put an end to Star Wars stoically ignoring a tradition that has defined the franchise since its inception, Disney seems to be dead set on keeping another staple alive as it ed forces with other companies to get the Writers Guild of America to finally “cave.”

The attempts to bury and forget a Star Wars staple undone by Ahsoka 4m1v2t

Every franchise has its quirks and specialties. Marvel projects always begin with the superhero montage, while Star Wars offerings used to begin with the ominous-looking opening crawl that would dole out the state of the galaxy far, far away, and proclaim the dangers of the future.

Rise of Skywalker made the signature device infamously memorable with the opening line “The dead speak!” which ended up meaning that Emperor Palpatine had nonsensically managed to rise from the dead. His return neither did the film a whole lot of good nor the opening crawl, which receded to the darkest corners of the galaxy, seemingly never to return as subsequent projects were bereft of its presence…

Until Ahsoka.

There are many hopes for the Rosario Dawson-led series, the primary being its ability to undo the way The Mandalorian season three and The Book of Boba Fett disappointed the fandom. But evidently, it is here to right many wrongs as it begins with the fondly ed and sorely missed opening crawl proudly announcing the dangers that await Ahsoka Tano and the rest of the galaxy.

Disney and other studios’ new offer to WGA labeled as a step to cause conflict among its 1j3k16

The WGA strike has been ongoing for almost four months now with no resolution in sight as the slim chances of ending it are being brazenly wasted by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The likes of Disney, Netflix, Paramount, etc. recently crafted a new contract offer and served it to the striking writers wherein Disney CEO Bob Iger, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, and more met up with the WGA on Aug. 23. 

The new offer in question includes the three-year contract to see a compounded 13% pay increase, written content by AI to not be called “literary material,” as well as AMPTP agreeing to minimum staffing requests though they still don’t match the level the WGA seeks. 

The leadership of WGA refused the offer and walked out of the meeting, only for AMPTP to make the details of the offer public minutes later.

“This was a meeting to get us to cave, which is why, not twenty minutes after we left the meeting, the AMPTP released its summary of their proposals,” the WGA said, adding that they plan to continue picketing since the offer fails to “protect writers from the existential threats that caused us to strike in the first place.”

The story of Elsa and Anna after Frozen 2 to continue with a brand new cast, but don’t get mad just yet 50s1x

After choosing to not bring Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk, Kingpin’s love interest and wife, in the series Daredevil: Born Again and facing the collective ire of fans, Disney can’t possibly risk the backlash again, can it? Well, you thought right, it won’t — let us explain.

Yes, the adventures of Anna and Elsa after Frozen 2 are set to continue with new actors but in the form of a podcast titled Forces of Nature, which will be released in October this year. The 12-episode series is set to be available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and will see Queen Anna enduring a hectic schedule which soon becomes even more chaotic as “the Spirits of Nature start acting up,” leaving her to put an end to it before everything spins out of order. 

“But when Anna and Elsa travel to the Enchanted Forest, they find mysterious copper machines that are disrupting the natural order of things.”

Also, no need to fret as the recently-announced Frozen 3 is still in motion and will bring back Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, and Josh Gad (who have all confirmed their return).

The Walt Disney Company’s CEO Bib Igor has announced that not one, not two, but three sequels are on the horizon for the House of Mouse, arriving in the form of Frozen 3, Zootopia 2, and Toy Story 5.

The announcement was made during the company’s first-quarter earnings call, according to The Wrap, offering little more in the way of details beyond the return of our favorite royal sisters, the loveable anthropomorphic mammals, and the iconic talking toys.

Frozen 3 was previously believed to be off the table after co-director Jennifer Lee announced in 2019 that she felt “very done” with the series, according to Deadline. However, because Frozen and Frozen 2 made a combined box office revenue of nearly $2.75 billion, it’s clear the company hopes to push the needle even further. Plot details and a release date for the threequel have not been provided yet. 

Another billion-dollar movie, Zootopia’s sequel has been looming on the horizon for several years following its 2016 release. However, with no confirmation to fall back on, many believed the project had been scrapped. Clearly, Disney was not ready to say goodbye. 

Toy Story 5 will continue Disney’s trend of greenlighting billion-dollar sequels, as its four previous installments totaled a combined $3.03 billion at the global box office. Toy Story 4 even won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and currently ranks directly underneath Frozen and Incredibles 2 as Disney’s most successful animated movie. 

These three Oscar-winning and nominated movies mark just one of many changes Iger has made since his return to the position of CEO, a position he previously held from 2005 to 2020 before returning again in 2022 after his appointed successor Bob Chapek unexpectedly stepped down from the position in Nov.

During the company’s  first-quarter earnings call, Igor 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.”

Disney found box office gold and a new story to annoy parents with when the Frozen franchise began in 2013 and continued in 2019 with Frozen 2, and, while Frozen 3 remains on ice, series star Kristen Bell has greenlighted it despite not having power to.

“I would …. like to officially announce, with zero authority, Frozen 3. Please bear in mind I did say ‘zero authority’ because I can’t do that. I can’t do that. No, I’m not in charge. Well, you know, I’m … I’ll keep it mysterious, but I know Idina [Menzel] recently said she would do it and I feel like if we’re all in, like, what are we waiting for? Let’s do it.”

Bell makes the above comments in a recent interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote her new children’s book titled The World Needs More Purple Schools. Bell’s co-star Jonathan Groff recently fielded a question about the possibility of a threequel, responding with a reference to the movie.

“And she says ‘let it go, let it gooo.'”

Bell will appear next in The People We Hate at the Wedding. Frozen 2 was a critical and financial success when it released, so, it may only be a matter of time until she is back in the recording booth performing as Anna alongside Groff and the rest of the crew coming in from Arendelle.

Actor Jonathan Groff has worked in the worlds of children’s and mature entertainment through turns in the Frozen series and the on-hold Mindhunter, and now The Matrix Resurrections star has said more of each is equally likely.

“I feel like, even though those projects seem very different, Frozen and Mindhunter, I feel like a third Frozen and a third season of Mindhunter are equally possible.”

Groff made the comments and put a very weird crossover into the minds of some fans when speaking to Jimmy Fallon earlier this week. Groff did not appear to be joking about returning to the Disney franchise, or the Netflix series where he plays an F.B.I. agent who speaks to serial killers, and in October we reported former show crew encouraged fans to make noise, suggesting if they were loud enough, something may end up happening with David Fincher and the tense effort. Fincher walked away from the series to focus on other projects like Mank and later cited costs, production issues, the amount of management he put into the idea, and general exhaustion as reasons for the suspension.

For now, the 19 episodes about Holden Ford (Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), who build the F.B.I.’s Behavioral Science Unit and speak to some of America’s most infamous criminals, exist on their own on Netflix. And Groff’s turns in the franchise that brought the world a song about letting it go and learning to live with the cold, are now streaming on Disney Plus.

After Frozen 2‘s success, Frozen 3 is assured to happen at some point. But where could the franchise go from here? Obviously, Elsa and Anna will be at the center of the story of the threequel, but given that the two sisters are fulfilled where they are – Anna as queen of Arendelle, Elsa with the Northuldra people in the forest – it might make sense to focus more on Kristoff, who may still have some baggage to unpack. For instance, the mystery of his parents. Kristoff’s actually the first main character we meet in Frozen, appearing as a boy. We even see him be taken in by the trolls. The implication is that he’s an orphan with no family until the magical creatures look after him. But what if Kristoff’s parents are actually still alive out there somewhere and they return to find their boy married into royalty in the third film? ScreenRant has put forward this theory, based on an analysis of the story and themes of the first two. The movies so far have always been about the characters solving the problems of the past to build a stronger future, for instance, which Kristoff discovering his parents and building a relationship with them would continue.

The Mouse House has proven time and again that they’re not particularly interested in producing extravagant sequels to their successful animated films, so to answer whether there’ll be a Frozen 3 or not is as simple as you’d imagine. When the original movie came out in 2013, it immediately turned into a cultural sensation. Flash forward to 2019 and Disney was finally ready to release the long-awaited sequel, which in all likelihood may have failed to garner the same kind of buzz and attention that its predecessor did all those years ago. Well, it’s safe to say that the naysayers and the skeptics were proven wrong yet again, as Frozen 2 went on to become the second highest-grossing animated film of all time with a whopping $1.45 billion at the box office. Now, fans are wondering if Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck will continue their streak of success with a threequel. With Anna becoming the Queen of Arendelle and Elsa ruling over the Enchanted Forest, it seems that the duo’s journey is finally complete. The directors feel the same way, too, but Josh Gad, who portrays Olaf, believes that a sequel depends on whether they can eventually come up with a story that feels right.

“I don’t know. I mean, here’s the deal; Frozen 2 wasn’t Frozen 2 until there was a reason to exist. And similarly, I don’t know if and when there will be a Frozen 3,” Gad explained in a new interview. “But we’ll see! If there’s always a story worth telling, I’m sure that Jennifer Lee and the incredible team over at Disney Animation will tell that story one day.”

“I feel like Olaf really is a part of the fabric of the actual stories that include Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, etc. And to me, separating him from that group doesn’t necessarily feel warranted and doesn’t necessarily feel earned,” He said.

I think it’s good to know that the producers aren’t rushing a sequel just for the sake of doing one and making more money off the franchise in theaters, which means that if Frozen 3 becomes a thing, we’ll know for sure that Lee and Buck have written a compelling narrative like the first two movies.

It’s only been a few months since Frozen 2 premiered late last year, but since it proved to be a success like the first one, Disney is already busy developing the threequel, and it looks like some of the characters who seemingly perished in previous installments will make a comeback in Frozen 3. In many regards, the second movie didn’t do much to revolutionize Frozen in of narrative and form, but ended up earning $1.450 billion at the global box office to become the second highest-grossing animated movie of all time. Now that Anna is the queen of Arendelle and Elsa the protector of the Enchanted Forest, it seems that their story has finally come to a happy and definitive closure. But what would the Mouse House do if not continue a successful and well-respected franchise? In fact, despite directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee practicing reluctance in sharing information about the third installment, we’ve got word that the studio is already coming up with the story of the next chapter, where supposedly, the former king and queen of Arendelle will make a comeback. That’s right, folks. According to sources close to We Got This Covered – the same ones who told us Han was returning to Fast & Furious, Disney is developing a live-action Robin Hood and a Beauty and the Beast spinoff for Gaston is in the works, all of which have since been confirmed – the Mouse House intends to bring back Anna and Elsa’s parents. We still don’t know how they wish to have Queen Iduna and King Agnarr return, but it seems that they somehow survived the storm in the first movie.

Going into Frozen 2, Disney fans were eager to see if all the talk of Elsa getting a girlfriend came to anything. As it happened, this wasn’t the case. The filmmakers explained that they didn’t think the snow queen was ready to embark on a romance yet as she’s still discovering her own identity. That said, Elsa did develop a bond with Honeymaren, one of the Northuldra people that Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf befriend over the course of the sequel. There’s no romantic subtext to the pair’s interactions in the movie, but this hasn’t stopped fans from hoping that something could develop between them after the events of Frozen 2. After all, the film ended with Elsa abdicating the throne of Arrendale, with Anna taking over, and relocating to the Northuldra forests to be closer to nature, where she felt she belongs. We haven’t got an official confirmation of what happens next for these characters, but actress Rachel Matthews provided an answer in a recent interview that should please fans. The star was asked by ScreenRant what she thought was next for her character and she focused on Elsa and Honeymaren getting closer, saying:

“Honeymaren is probably learning a lot from Elsa and is so curious about her powers. I’m sure Elsa is discovering more about herself and this new life that she now has with our people, and I think they’re probably all teaching each other things.”

Fans are currently eager to know whether there’ll be a Frozen 3 after the sequel to the original film managed to become one of the highest-grossing movies of last year. Frozen 2 served as a continuation of Elsa’s story in a journey to find out who she really is and once again save the kingdom of Arendelle from ruin. The unforgettable characters of Disney’s animated feature film, including Elsa’s sister, Anna, and fan-favorites like Christoph and Olaf also came back to give folks the sequel that they’d been waiting for ever since the first movie came out in 2013. But the question that everyone’s asking right now is will there be a third installment and if so, will the series finally give Elsa a love interest to fill in the void that was felt in the first two movies? Well, to answer the former, Peter Del Vecho, who served as a producer for Frozen 2, had the following to say when asked if the story had really come to an end.

“I think when we look at these two movies together what I love about them is you’ve done an amazing job of weaving these into one full story so it now feels like a complete journey.”

Director Jennifer Lee was quick to chime in as well, not ruling out the possibility but refusing to confirm it, saying:

“It feels complete to me – but I don’t know. Chris [Buck, co-director and writer with Lee] says ask him in a year.”