The Big Picture
- Frozen 4, along with Toy Story 5 and a second Zootopia movie, is currently in development by Disney Animation and Pixar.
- The success of the original Frozen and its sequel has made the world of Arendelle a top priority for Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- With the studio focusing on sequels for the foreseeable future, it may be a while before viewers learn more about the future of Arendelle.
It looks like audiences could be staying in Arendelle for a long time, with Bob Iger, the Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, stating that a fourth Frozen is in development. Good Morning America first reported the announcement, with the executive talking about it while promoting the “World of Frozen” expansion at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. No other details were given about the upcoming film, but the news does seem to indicate that the world of the 2013 smash hit has become a priority for the studio like no other asset has in the history of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Frozen III was only confirmed to be in development this year, alongside Toy Story 5 and a second Zootopia movie, with none of the upcoming sequels having release dates attached to them. After the box office performance original animated stories have had in recent years for the company, such as Strange World and Encanto, it would be easy to understand why both Disney Animation and Pixar are focusing mostly on sequels for the foreseeable future. Since it takes years for Disney to complete an animated film, it might take a while for viewers to learn more about the future of Arendelle.
The franchise revolves around Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell), two sisters who have been in charge of ruling over Arendelle ever since their parents passed away when they were younger. While their relationship was complicated due to Elsa not knowing how to control her powers at first, everything changed around the time of her coronation. Over the course of that original story, Anna fell in love with Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), and Elsa finally decided to open up to the people she loved the most in the world, setting the stage for the mystery seen in Frozen II.
‘Frozen’s Story of Success
Disney is currently looking for titles that might seem like guaranteed hits at the box office, with recent ticket sales results putting the studio in the need for more billion-dollar-hits. The first Frozen movie earned $1.285 billion at the global box office, with the sequel taking in $1.453 billion when it premiered on the big screen in 2019. While it remains to be seen how the studio continues to expand the world of Arendelle, Disney Animation rarely works on theatrical sequels to their films, let alone four stories set in the same narrative. The cultural landscape has certainly changed for the brand, because even when The Lion King and The Little Mermaid began to get sequels after their success, they were mostly launched directly to home media.
Both Frozen movies are currently available for streaming on Disney+. You can check out the official announcement made by Bob Iger below: