Another Pixar Sequel Is In Development…But Which One?
At any given time, the gang atPixarhas roughly half a dozen films in various stages of development, many of which the public is unaware of. Currently we know they haveMonsters Universityout next month, Bob Peterson’sThe Good Dinosaurout next Summer, Pete Docter’sInside Outset for release Summer 2015 and Andrew Stanton’sFinding Dory, the sequel toFinding Nemo, out November 2015. Lee Unkrich is also making a still-untitledDía de los Muertosfilm which’ll be released somewhere in that time period. But, obviously, more is on the way.
Last week, Disney CEOBob Igerdid a conference call with shareholders and one small piece of information he mentioned has yet to be discussed. Iger said that, over the next five years, Pixar has “fantastic original stories as well as some great sequels to their previous hits.” That’s “sequels,” plural, meaning there must be at least one more beyondFinding Dory. Read the full quote and speculate below.
Thanks toBleeding Coolfor pointing out this important distinction. Here’s Iger:
On the animation front, Pixar continues to create great value for our company too. We are very excited aboutMonsters Universitywhich opens next month. Pixar’s slate of films for the next five years includes fantastic original stories as well as some great sequels to their previous hits. And as we recently announced, we are in production on one of those sequels,Finding Dory, featuring Ellen DeGeneres once again as the voice of Dory, one of the most beloved characters fromFinding Nemowhich was one of the most popular and profitable movies to date.
The second most important part of the quote is where Iger said “We are in production on one of those sequels,Finding Dory.“That obviously suggests there are sequels Pixarisn’t inproduction on, and that’s what we want to know about.
Also, the above distinction clears up any possible confusion that Iger could have meantMonsters University(prequel, not sequel) orPlanes(spin-off, and not Pixar) both of which are out this year.
So what could it be? The list of possibilities is, frankly, quite short andToy Story 4is at the top of the list. The series has been Pixar’s bread and butter since they started making features and Tom Hankslet it slip a few years backthat he’d been talked to about a sequel (same with Tim Allen).
A thirdCarsis also a possibility. Though fans weren’t all in love withCars 2, the brand is extremely important to Disney as a whole, both in terms of merchandise and the parks division. The odds are Iger means one of those, if not both.
Less likely possibilities are a sequel toBrave, something that’s been mentioned in passing but not with any authority, or anIncrediblessequel. Brad Bird has said he’d be open to it if the story was right, but he’s already got a Disney film coming out in late 2014. That means even if they already had a story, he couldn’t start actively developing and working it until 2015, and then we’re talking 2020 before the film is out. Don’t forget, Iger did say five years.
Which sequel do you think Pixar is currently working on, but we just don’t know about yet?
