Pixar Officially Confirms Its 4th Threequel Movie

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Pixar is starting work on a fourth movie in one of its established series, continuing to build on some of its most popular stories. While Pixar is known for creating timeless animated films that appear on merchandise and in theme parks, the studio also prioritizes new and original ideas. Because of this balance, very few of their movies have ever reached a third installment, making this fourth film a rare occurrence.

Pixar is continuing the Monsters, Inc. series with a new movie, joining a growing trend of sequels at the studio. The Wall Street Journal reported that Pixar is currently developing a third Monsters, Inc. film. This move reflects a shift in Pixar’s strategy – they now plan to release roughly two sequels for every original film, a change from their previous focus. According to Pixar president Jim Morris, this is to guarantee the studio remains financially stable and can continue making movies.

Released in 2001, Monsters, Inc. was Pixar’s third original film, following the successes of Toy Story and A Bug’s Life. The movie revealed a hidden world where monsters powered their city using energy from children’s screams. The story continued with Monsters University in 2013, which showed how Mike and Sully met in college. More recently, Monsters at Work, a Disney+ series released in 2021, acted as a sequel, introducing a new generation of monsters.

As a huge Pixar fan, I’ve been hearing whispers about Monsters, Inc. 3, but honestly, it’s a bit of a mystery where it would fit into the story, and if we’d even see Mike and Sully – Billy Crystal and John Goodman are just perfect as those two. Both Monsters, Inc. movies were massive hits, raking in over half a billion dollars each, so it makes sense Pixar would want to revisit that world. It’s a pretty reliable franchise for them, though they’ve definitely made three films in other series before this!

Pixar’s Threequels So Far

Toy Story

Pixar’s Toy Story is their oldest and most successful movie series, and new installments are still being made. While the first two films came out relatively close together, the sequels have been released much further apart, giving fans longer waits between Buzz and Woody’s adventures.

After ten years since Toy Story 2, Pixar released Toy Story 3 in 2010, which appeared to wrap up Andy’s story with the toys. Many thought that would be the end, but nine years later, Toy Story 4 arrived, seemingly concluding Woody’s adventures with his friends. However, Toy Story continued to surprise everyone, becoming a five-film series and breaking all of Pixar’s previous records. The latest installment, Toy Story 5, is coming out this summer, bringing back Woody and introducing a new, threatening villain named Lilypad.

The Toy Story movies have remained popular for years, constantly finding fresh ways to explore the bond between people and their toys. This suggests that even with a potential Toy Story 5, there’s still more story to tell.

Cars

Pixar quickly turned Cars into a three-film series. The original Cars movie, released in 2006, featured Owen Wilson as the voice of Lightning McQueen in a world populated by talking vehicles. While Cars 2 (2011) wasn’t as well-received, it was followed by Cars 3 in 2017. The franchise also expanded with the spin-off series Planes, created by DisneyToon Studios.

Unlike the Toy Story movies, which consistently earned more with each sequel, Cars 3 didn’t perform as well as the previous Cars films. This led many to believe the Cars series might be finished with new movie releases, at least for the time being.

Incredibles

I remember when The Incredibles first came out in 2004, just a little before Cars. Before the Marvel and DC universes really took off, it was the superhero movie everyone was talking about. What I loved was that it wasn’t just about a single hero, but a whole family trying to juggle everyday life with, well, being superheroes. It was so cool to see them come together and embrace their powers as a family!

Fans had been asking for it for 14 years, and in 2018, Pixar delivered Incredibles 2, continuing the story right after the first film. It was a huge success, earning over $1 billion and becoming Pixar’s highest-grossing movie at the time (until Inside Out 2 in 2024). Given its popularity, a third movie seemed likely, and it was officially confirmed at D23 in 2024: Incredibles 3 is happening.

A release date for Incredibles 3 hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s currently expected around 2028—a decade after Incredibles 2. Peter Sohn, known for Elemental, will direct the new film, while Brad Bird, who directed the previous installments, will now serve as a producer.

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2026-03-10 22:35