If Disney Animation felt like it was falling into disrepair in the late 2010s, everything changed in 2013 with the animated feature “Frozen,” which began a newfound renaissance period for Disney that included the success of “Moana.” Collectively, the two “Frozen” films have grossed $2.7 billion worldwide, and “Frozen II” is the 14th highest-earning film of all time. But more is coming, including a “Frozen III” and “Frozen IV.”
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Initially due in 2026, according to Disney’s CEO Bob Iger, during one of their many investor calls at the recent D23 Expo, Disney casually revealed a new “Frozen III” release date of 2027, never really explaining the year-long delay.
While the delay wasn’t fully explained either, in a new Fandango interview “Frozen” franchise filmmaker and Disney Animation’s chief creative officer Jennifer Lee, the director said “Frozen III” and “Frozen IV” are being worked on at the same time simultaneously with her team at Disney.
“We are working on ‘Frozen IV’ at the same time. So, we’re working in a room where this half is ‘Frozen III,’ this half is ‘Frozen IV,’ we’re standing in the middle going back and forth,” she said.
Lee also explained that the films are still “early on” in development. “We are not even fully scripted yet; we’re in early scripting, so it’s too soon to know where the musical language will go,” she said in response to a question about what’s in store for the musical end of the franchise.
The Disney filmmaker also teased the plot of both films, which derived from unanswered questions from the first two films. “What we put out today at [D23] is a lot of questions,” Lee said. “One of those questions is… ‘Who gave Elsa her powers?’ And another question is, ‘What happened to Hans?’ But we put up a lot of questions that will be answered. And that’s only the first page of questions [that the films will reckon with].”
As for the cast, nothing’s been formally announced, but many of the cast have confirmed in interviews that they will be returning, including Josh Gad as Olaf—posted on Twitter—Idina Menzel as Elsa—confirmed in an interview with Billboard— and Kristen Bell announced last year on The Jimmy Fallon Show that ‘Frozen III’ was in the works, but fell short of confirming her returns as Anna (let’s face it, she will).
“Frozen III ” will be released in theaters on November 24, 2027, the same pre-Thanksgiving weekend frame in which the previous two “Frozen” movies became box office giants.