All the Upcoming Prequels and Sequels Disney Announced at D23

On Friday, Disney’s C.E.O. Bob Iger attended the expo. Iger took to the main stage to thunderous applause from the audience, an unusual appearance for the actor, who had not attended the event since 2019, when Disney praised hits like “Avengers: Endgame” and “Toy Story 4.”

But times have changed.

Over the years, Disney has developed a reputation as an entertainment powerhouse capable of churning out hit movies one after the other: “Frozen” grossed $1.3 billion worldwide in 2013, and its sequel surpassed that with $1.4 billion. Other popular franchises like “Avatar” have made more than $5 billion between the two movies, and the latest installment of Marvel Studios’ “Avengers” series made $2.7 billion.

And with Iger retiring in 2021, Disney’s dominance at the box office will come to an end.

Films like “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” topped $845 million worldwide, while films like “Marvels” and “Wish” fell short of expectations. Those films only made $206 million and $254 million worldwide, respectively.

As Disney began to move away from the $1 billion benchmark, executives shifted strategy, bringing Iger out of retirement to lead the company again in 2022.

Iger acknowledged the harsh reality: 2023 Earnings ReportThe company said the COVID-19 pandemic had undermined its plans to increase project production.

“I’ve always felt that quantity can be a liability when it comes to quality, and I think that’s exactly what happened. We lost focus,” Iger said.

Then Iger floated Disney’s life raft: prequels and sequels.

“We’re very optimistic about what’s coming next, and we’re going to have a balance of very strong sequels to very popular titles, as well as great original content,” he said.

Disney has already found success in 2024 by mining existing stories.

“Inside Out 2” has been a huge success this summer, grossing $1.4 billion so far, and the third Marvel movie, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” is approaching the $1 billion mark less than a month after its release in July.

At D23, fans were introduced to a slew of new projects based on older Disney IP, including Moana 2 and The Lion King prequel Mufasa.

Here are all the prequel and sequel movies that Disney has coming out.

Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios

• Moana 2 — November 27, 2024.
• “Mufasa: The Lion King” — December 20, 2024
• Tron: Ares — October 10, 2025
• Zootopia 2 — November 26, 2025
• “Freaky Friday” — 2025
• Frozen 3 — 2027

20th Century Fox

• “Avatar: Fire and Ashes” — December 19, 2025

Pixar Animation Studios

• “Toy Story 5” — June 19, 2026
• “Incredibles 3” — Currently in production

Lucasfilm

• “The Mandalorian and Grogu” — May 22, 2026

Marvel Studios

• Captain America: Brave New World — February 14, 2025