The Frozen movies are big business for Disney. At the box office, the two big screen releases – 2013's Frozen and 2019's Frozen II – have earned over $2.7 billion worldwide, and the amount of brand merchandising that has been produced is overwhelming. It's for this reason that the studio is very much committed to making more sequels to the blockbuster hits , and as a big part of that plan, the company has reportedly closed some major deals with stars Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Idina Menzel.
According to The Wrap, Disney has signed deals with the actors to reprise their respective roles in both Frozen 3 and Frozen 4, and the value of those contracts is said to be north of $60 million. It's a lot of money... but can you really imagine Anna, Olaf and Elsa being voiced by anyone else? Their work as part of the deal will begin soon, as Frozen 3 has been in development since 2023 and it is currently scheduled for release on November 24, 2027 (after being delayed a year from 2026).
Jennifer Lee is set to direct Frozen 3 after she stepped down as Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios last year, though not much is known about the plot of the film. At the end of Frozen II, Anna is crowned as the queen of Arrendale after Elsa decides to live her life in the enchanted forest, but we don't know what is on the horizon for the characters. At D23 Expo 2024, the first concept art for the movie was released, featuring Anna and Elsa on horseback looking at a city in the clouds while a dark figure looms... but further context for the image doesn't really exist.
Beyond their work in the Frozen movies, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Idina Menzel have all kept very busy. Bell's most high-profile work of late has been on the Netflix series Nobody Wants This, which debuted its second season this fall has has been renewed for a third. Gad has recently been hard at work on Spaceballs 2 (which he is starring in and he co-wrote), and Menzel most recently played the lead in the musical Redwood on Broadway from January to May earlier this year.
By the time Frozen 3 is released, it will have been eight years since Frozen II arrived in theaters, but it will be interesting to see if these contracts signed with the franchise stars ends up accelerating development of Frozen 4 (and that may or may not end up having an impact on the story told in the second sequel). In addition to Frozen 3, Walt Disney Animation Studios is also presently developing the fantasy feature Hexed for next year.
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