Disney’s Frozen franchise has just received a release update. Ahead of Frozen 3’s release next year, the franchise will take a while before it returns.
The successful franchise debuted in 2013 and returned for a sequel in 2019. Since then, Frozen 3 and 4 were announced to be produced back-to-back and released closer together than the first two entries. Speaking to Collider, Walt Disney Animation’s CCO Jared Bush revealed why that is no longer the plan, but had a good explanation why.
Disney Wants Frozen III to Be a Hit
When asked whether Frozen 4 was considered when the third installment was created, Bush explained that “I’d say for me personally — again, talking just for myself — I think you have to have a rough sense of emotionally where you want your characters to go, a sense of an emotional journey. The plot behind that, at least for me, is secondary to the character journey.”
Bush also revealed the third and fourth entries in the hit animated musical franchise won’t be released together: “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,” the CCO added.
“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,” Bush explained, “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.”
Frozen 4 Is Still Happening
Elsa rides a water horse in Frozen II.Image via Disney
While Bush revealed the two films aren’t going to be filmed at the same time, Disney has a plan to continue the franchise. However, it will only be after making sure the third entry is a success and audiences are satisfied after the new release.
“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,” Bush noted. “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.”
Bush acknowledged that the Frozen franchise has been around for a long time, but, if the sequel’s numbers prove anything, is that audiences will wait for something if it’s good. “Something I noticed, certainly for Disney Animation, is if the future story is great, it doesn’t matter how much time has passed,” Bush asserted. “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.”
Frozen III premieres in theaters on Nov. 24, 2027.
Release Date
November 24, 2027
Director
Jennifer Lee, Trent Correy
Writers
Jennifer Lee
Producers
Peter Del Vecho
Franchise(s)
Frozen