Disney’s biennial D23 fan event in southern California is a huge affair and the entertainment giant packed its opening Friday with news fit for the occasion – revealing the full title of Avatar 3, announcing new Pixar features and series, and showing first footage from The Mandalorian And Grogu.
Avatar creator James Cameron told the crowd of more than 12,000 at Honda Center in Anaheim that the third entry in his smash sci-fi fantasy franchise starring Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana is called Avatar: Fire And Ash.
The 20th Century Studios tentpole is scheduled to open on December 19, 2025. The first two films, Avatar and Avatar: The Way Of Water, are the first and third all-time highest-grossing films at the global box office on $2.9bn and $2.3bn, respectively. Episodes four and five are scheduled to open on December 21, 2029, and December 19, 2031.
Cameron was one of many household names to attend Disney’s massive promotional event as the company invited them on stage to power an exhaustive conveyor belt of footage and announcements. The crowd – some of whom come from outside the United States to behold the three-day extravaganza – screamed in glee.
Jon Favreau showed first footage from The Mandalorian And Grogu, the first Star Wars Universe feature since The Rise Of Skywalker in 2019. Favreau started filming two weeks ago and the tentpole opens on May 22, 2026.
Jude Law appeared on stage to talk up Skeleton Crew, a new Star Wars series that arrives on Disney+ on December 3 and is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of four children. The cast includes Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Tunde Adebimpe, Kerry Condon and Nick Frost.
Jennifer Lee brought concept art from Frozen 3, the sequel to the Disney Animation smash hits that have combined for more than $2.7m worldwide. The next instalment in the adventures of Elsa and Anna arrives in November 2027. Disney teased that a fourth film is in the works.
The crowd got to see a trailer for Disney’s Snow White, which opens on March 21, 2025, and learned that Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar-winning actor Ke Huy Quan has joined the voice cast of Zootopia 2 and will play a character called Gary.
Dwayne Johnson, a familiar face at conventions and promotional events, turned up to introduce a new trailer to his upcoming November 27 animated release Moana 2, which was conceived during the pandemic and originally targeted to launch directly on Disney+ until Disney CEO Bob Iger upgraded it to a theatrical release.
Pixar: Hoppers, Incredibles 3, Elio casting
In the Pixar segment, chief creative officer Pete Docter announced a new feature, Hoppers, about a girl who inhabits the body of a robot beaver to go undercover in the animal world. Jon Hamm is cast as a mayor and Daniel Chong directs the 2026 release.
Docter told the crowd that Brad Bird is developing Incredibles 3 and said a four-episode Inside Out spin-off series called Dream Productions will debut in 2025.
Inside Out 2 has shot to the top of this year’s box office charts on $1.5bn worldwide and ranks as the highest-grossing animation of all time.
Andrew Stanton is directing Toy Story 5 and said the plot involves the beloved toys going up against iPads, iPhones and other technological gadgetry.
In other Pixar news, Zoe Saldana has joined the voice cast of Elio, which opens on June 13, 2025, after its 2024 release date was pushed due to the Hollywood strikes. The story centres on a boy who gets beamed up into space where an intergalactic council mistakes him for the leader of Earth.
There was a mention for Pixar’s first series Win Or Lose, which debuts on Disney+ on December 6 and follows eight characters in the run-up to a championship softball game. Will Forte will voice the coach.
Live-action: Tron: Ares, Mufasa: The Lion King
Disney’s live-action segment brought Jeff Bridges and Jared Leto on stage to promote Tron: Ares with music by Nine Inch Nails coming on October 10, 2025, and there was a new trailer for December 20 release Mufasa: The Lion King.
Johnson also announced that a new film is in the works about monster trucks, which he will produce via his Seven Bucks Productions. Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan revealed the title to the sequel of 2003 release Freaky Friday to be Freakier Friday, which opens next year.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, who thrilled fans at the recent Comic-Con in San Diego, touted several diary dates: next month’s launch of the WandaVision spin-off series Agatha All Along on Disney+ starring Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey Plaza; Marvel Television’s Daredevil: Born Again in March 2025; February 2025 release Captain America: Brave New World; and July 2025 release Fantastic Four: First Steps, which has begun production in the UK.
Many of the films announced or teased on Friday do not yet have specific release dates, although there are plenty of untitled slots up for grabs after Disney posted a huge release calendar update last week.
The opening day also encompassed Broadway. A stage adaptation of The Greatest Showman is in development, while Frozen, which was filmed on stage, will premiere on Disney+ in 2025.
No comments yet