According to a number of American media reports, Bob Iger, CEO of Disney Group, announced at a financial report meeting held on February 8 local time that Disney will be committed to further developing its unparalleled IP projects, integrating existing high-quality series The works flourished. The first is to make "Toy Story", "Frozen" and "Zootopia" sequels.
Of the above three animated series, Toy Story has the longest history. Since its birth in 1995, The Adventures of Toys, led by Cowboy Woody and Space Cop Buzz Lightyear, has been released four times, with a total box office of more than 3 billion US dollars. "Light Years" released last year can also be regarded as a derivative work of this series.
"Toy Story 4" poster
Inspired by Norse mythology, "Frozen" tells the adventures of Elsa and Anna, the princess sisters. Two films were released in 2013 and 2019, with a total box office of more than 2.7 billion US dollars.
"Frozen 2" poster
And "Zootopia" has no sequel yet. In fact, since the year it was released in 2016, Disney has claimed to make a sequel, but after so many years, it has been in a state of "planning". At any rate, it released six derivative short films last year. "Zootopia" tells the story of the young detective rabbit Judy punishing evil and promoting good in a foreign land, and the box office has exceeded 1 billion US dollars.
"Zootopia" poster
The specific matters such as the creative candidates and schedule of the above three sequels are still unknown.
This is Bob Iger's first appearance at Disney's earnings conference since he took office last year. The reason why it was emphasized at the meeting to dig deep into the development route of high-quality IP is probably based on the fact that last year, this old Hollywood company that started with animation, released two new works "Buzz Lightyear" and "Odd World" that did not respond well. There is an urgent need to revive investor confidence. The cost of Buzz Lightyear is said to be more than $200 million, and it only grossed $226 million worldwide. "Odd World" is even worse. The production cost alone is between US$120 million and US$180 million. The global box office is only US$73.62 million, and Disney will lose at least US$100 million.
This year, Disney also has two original animated feature films that will debut, namely "Elemental" (Elemental), which is scheduled to be released on June 16, and "Wish", which is scheduled to be released on November 22. The former is produced by Pixar Studios, with the gorgeous city composed of the four elements of wind, fire, water, and earth as the background, presenting an interesting story of fire and water that should have been incompatible and accidentally met and fell in love. The latter is a tribute work of Disney animation to commemorate the centenary of Disney.