Disney is letting go of its original release plan for Frozen 4.
A third and fourth in Disney’s hit animated movie franchise have been in the works for several years, with the intention of releasing them in quick succession. In 2023, director and writer Jennifer Lee explained that Frozen 3 and 4 were happening back-to-back because “We’re really excited about where they’re going, and we just have a lot of story to tell with that direction we’re going in. So, I think, in my head, there may be enough for two in that story. But I’m really, really loving working with the team and where they’re going.”
In an interview with Collider, Disney’s Head of Animation, Jared Bush, revealed that the plan is no longer to have a two-part story being released back-to-back. While this was the original intention, he explained that the release plan changed in order for the focus to be on making Frozen 3 the best movie it can be, along with telling a complete and satisfying story on its own. This approach also leaves more storytelling possibilities open for Frozen 4. Check out his comments below:
Looking at Frozen 3 and what a Frozen 4 could look like, I know early on it was, “We’re going to put them right together, and they’re going to be out in the world. It’s going to happen quick.” That’s not what we’re doing, for a lot of reasons. To me, an important one is we want to make sure that Frozen 3 is the best movie it can possibly be, so that when you get to the end of the movie, do you feel like you’ve watched a complete story? That it feels like something that feels fulfilling. That doesn’t always mean that everything is buttoned up, but it does mean that you have to be building to something that feels worthy of the end of a franchise that’s that important to people.
But then you also need to think, “Okay, well, if there was a future story, what might that look like?” You have to have a rough sense of that. But I’d say in my personal experience, I try not to go too in the weeds on that because it can lock you into a Frozen 3 that you may want to change or make better. If you’re so rigid on what [Frozen] 4 might look like, then it could stifle you, and that’s not something that I want to do.
Frozen 3 is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 24, 2027. Frozen 4 never received a set release date, although based on Bush’s update, audiences should not expect it to be released the following year in 2028, as Disney will be taking more time to develop the sequel than originally indicated.
Bush is not concerned about Frozen 4 coming out later than anticipated, explaining how “something I noticed, certainly for Disney Animation, is if the future story is great, it doesn’t matter how much time has passed. And I’d say that for a musical, even more so. I think a little extra time is not a bad thing because the character is going to need to sing again.”
This outlook is likely connected to Zootopia 2, which he wrote and co-directed. Disney’s animated sequel was released nine years after its predecessor, but still went on to gross $1.87 billion worldwide, making it the tenth highest grossing film of all-time and second best for animation, only behind Ne Zha 2.
While many of the plot details have remained under wraps, some Frozen 3 footage was shown at this year’s D23, including the wedding of Anna (Kristen Bell) and Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Olaf (Josh Gad) singing a song about Samantha, the wedding being crashed by a butterfly-like creature, and a new villain walking toward Anna and Elsa (Idina Menzel). There were also first looks at life-size versions of the two sisters, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven.
Frozen 4 will presumably continue to follow these characters, but the story no longer seems as though it will be a direct continuation of the plot in Frozen 3. This would be more similar to the franchise’s previous movies, as they follow the journeys of the same characters, but focus on different conflicts.
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The original movie grossed $1.31 billion worldwide, while the sequel reached even greater financial heights at $1.45 billion globally. From the past box office success to the eight-year wait, Frozen 3 is easily one of the biggest movies coming in 2027, even in a year that also includes Shrek 5, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, Star Wars: Starfighter, Man of Tomorrow, Avengers: Secret Wars, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, A Minecraft Movie: Squared, The Legend of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and The Mummy: Book of the Dead.
While Frozen 4 doesn’t have a release date yet, Frozen 3‘s Thanksgiving window is poised to continue doing well for Disney after Moana 2 and Zootopia 2 also came out at this time, respectively, in 2024 and 2025, and both surpassed $1 billion worldwide.
