Upcoming Disney and Pixar Movies

Moana 2 (November 27, 2024) Not even a year after the live-action remake of Moana was announced, The Walt Disney Company announced Moana 2 out of nowhere on February 7, 2024, giving us a teaser trailer of Moana standing on the beach to blow her conch shell. It also released a first-look image of Moana, Maui, and a couple of new characters sailing by a whale shark, which appears to be one of Moana's ancestors considering how her grandmother Tala appeared as a manta ray after she passed away. The surprise sequel's plot finds the new young chief of Motonui Island hitting the high seas of Oceania and beyond with Maui and a new crew of seafarers after receiving an unexpected call from her wayfaring ancestors.

The sequel will be directed by Dave Derrick Jr., with music composed by Grammy winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i, and three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina. Lin-Manuel Miranda will not return with new music for the film.



Mufasa: The Lion King (December 20, 2024) As told by Rafiki to Kiara, Simba and Nala’s daughter, the prequel to the 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King tells the story of how her grandfather Mufasa became king of the Pride Lands. The story will also reveal how Mufasa and Scar went from loving brothers to bitter enemies, while Timon and Pumbaa sprinkle in colorful commentary. Mufasa: The Lion King will mark Kiara’s second appearance in a feature film since the direct-to-video sequel The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, despite also making an appearance in the Disney Channel/Disney Junior animated series The Lion Guard.

Aaron Pierre and Kevin Harrison, Jr. will voice young Mufasa and Scar, respectively, while Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner will reprise their voice roles of Pumbaa and Timon. Snow White (Live-Action Remake) (March 21, 2025) Details about the live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves are scarce, but what we do know is that Rachel Zegler will play the leading Disney Princess, Gal Gadot is cast as the Evil Queen, and Andrew Burnap will play a new character named Jonathan, replacing Prince Charming.

Greta Gerwing and Erin Cressida Wilson wrote the screenplay, and Marc Webb is the director. The film was originally scheduled to release this year, but Disney pushed its release date back to March 21, 2025 due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes. The casting caused controversy among audiences because Zegler, who is part-Colombian, does not fit Snow White’s profile of having “skin as white as snow,” and because she made comments about making the character stronger than she was in the original — both issues Zegler addressed.

In October 2023, Disney released a first look image of Snow White and the dwarves, who are rendered in CGI to resemble their appearances in the original film. Elio (June 13, 2025) Elio is about an 11-year-old boy who gets abducted by aliens after they mistake him for Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe. After he is beamed up to the Communiverse, an intergalactic council comprising representatives from other planets for contacting them by mistake, Elio has to form bonds with eccentric alien life forms and survive a series of formidable trials in order to hopefully get sent back home.

Elio was originally scheduled to be released on March 1, 2024, but because production of the film paused due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Pixar pushed the release date back to June 13, 2025. Tron: Ares (October 10, 2025) Tron: Ares is set to be a reboot of the Tron film franchise, not a direct sequel to Tron: Legacy. Jared Leto has been cast as the titular character Ares, a computer AI program who embarks on a journey from the digital dimension to the human world.

Tron: Ares was originally announced to be a sequel to Tron: Legacy as Tron 3 in 2010, but Disney cancelled it in 2015 following the box office failure of Tomorrowland. The film’s development restarted in 2017, but had changed directors ever since, from Garth Davis to Joachim Rønning. Production started in December 2023, and the film is slated to release in theaters October 10, 2025.

Zootopia 2 (November 26, 2025) Zootopia 2 was also announced by Iger last February to be in development alongside Frozen 3 and Toy Story 5. Details about the sequel to the film about a city populated by anthropomorphic animals in climate-diverse landscapes are scarce, but they’ll be revealed at a later date. As for what would happen in the film, a few of the actors shared some ideas.

According to CinemaBlend, Ginnifer Goodwin said she would like to see a role reversal between her character Judy Hopps and Jason Bateman’s Nick Wilde, saying that because they’re now a cop team, “I would also like to see Nick [Wilde] have to be the one to convince Judy [Hopps] that the world is worth fighting for.” Bateman, on the other hand, said the plot should be about “The two of us, kicking ass out there. Cleaning up the streets.

We’re a couple of new cops out there. So, bad guys, be warned.” Freakier Friday (2025) Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis are returning for this sequel to Freaky Friday, which promises to be even, well, freakier: Freakier Friday.

The actors showed up onstage at D23 in August, 2024, to tout the film, which of course is the sequel to a remake of the originaly 1977 Freaky Friday starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. The film will be released in 2025. Lilo & Stitch (Live-Action Remake) (2025) The live-action Lilo & Stitch remake got a first preview at Disney's D23 event in August, 2024, in the form of what the "live-action" Stitch will look like.

Of course, he's still gonna be computer-generated, but he'll be appearing, persumably, opposite real actors and in real settings. Maia Kealoha plays Lilo and Zach Galifianakis also stars in an unspecified role. The film is expected sometime in 2025.

Toy Story 5 (June 19, 2026) Disney CEO Bob Iger surprised Toy Story fans on February 8, 2023 with the news that Pixar is now producing Toy Story 5. Although it seemed like Toy Story 4 wrapped up the series for good as Woody and Buzz Lightyear went their separate ways, it appears as if the story will continue. Though the news received a warm welcome by many fans of Pixar movies, others questioned the necessity of a fifth Toy Story film.

We don't have any concrete details about Toy Story 5 as far the plot is concerned. However, we do know that the movie is set to release on June 19, 2026. Moana (Live Action Remake) (July 10, 2026) Just like the original 2016 CGI animated film, the plot for the live-action remake of Moana will revolve around a young girl who is chosen by the ocean to reunite an ancient relic with the Polynesian goddess Te Fiti with the help of the exiled demigod named Maui.

This puts her on a mission to not only save the ocean, but also save her island of Motonui, which has been afflicted with blight as a result of the volcanic demon Te Kā’s rampage. The live-action remake for Moana was announced on April 3, 2023, with Dwayne Johnson slated to produce the film and reprise his role of Maui, who was inspired by his grandfather Peter Maivia, a former WWE star. Auli'i Cravalho won’t reprise her role as the titular heroine; however, she’ll serve as executive producer.

Frozen 3 (November 24, 2027) Bob Iger announced that Frozen 3 was in the works on February 8, 2023, but details about the sequel have since been scarce. However, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad confirmed they will reprise their roles as Elsa and Olaf, respectively. Kristen Bell hasn’t said whether she’ll return as the plucky heroine Anna.

While story details about Frozen 3 haven’t been officially revealed, it is expected to pick up where Frozen 2 left off, with Anna becoming queen of Arendelle after Elsa abdicated the throne to become the protector of the Enchanted Forest after learning she’s the fifth spirit bridging the gap between people and magic. As for the release date, it might come out in late 2025. Incredibles 3 (Date TBD) Yes, Incredibles 3 is happening, and series director Brad Bird is also back.

Beyond that, not much more is known about the film, which was revealed at D23 in August, 2024. Bambi (Live-Action Remake) (Date TBD) The live-action remake of Bambi was confirmed to be in development in January 2020 following the success of Guy Ritchie’s take on Aladdin. The producers aim to use photorealistic CGI for the animal characters just as they did for The Lion King remake and, according to former screenwriter Lindsey Anderson Beer, tone down Bambi’s mother’s death to make it less traumatic for today’s kids than the original 1942 animated film.

“Not to spoil the plot, but there’s a treatment of the mom dying that I think some kids, some parents these days are more sensitive about than they were in the past,” she told Collider last year. “And I think that’s one of the reasons that they haven’t shown it to their children.” Sarah Polley, Academy Award-winning director of Women Talking, is reportedly set to direct the live-action Bambi.

No one has been cast as the titular deer or any of his friends yet. Hercules (Live-Action Remake) (Date TBD) Details surrounding the live-action adaptation of Hercules, which was announced in June 2022, have been scarce since the SAG-AFTRA strikes save for a few tidbits. The movie will be directed by Guy Ritchie, making it the second Disney live-action remake on his resume after Aladdin, and it will be produced by the studio run by Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

Danny DeVito may reprise his role as the wise satyr Phil, but that hasn’t been confirmed. Joe Russo explained to Variety that they’ll use TikTok as inspiration for putting a modern spin on the Disney Renaissance classic. “Audiences today have been trained by TikTok, right? What is their expectation of what that musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little bit on how you execute a modern musical,” he said.

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