According to a recent report from Puck, Pixar is developing a new TV series set in the world of Inside Out for Disney+.
Elemental just had a bad opening weekend at the box office, something which is being blamed on Disney's COVID release strategy for Pixar titles (which saw them sent straight to streaming). With that in mind, it's not overly surprising the studio is shifting focus to sequels like Toy Story 5 and, you guessed it, Inside Out 2.
To expand the latter franchise with a TV show isn't a bad idea and it's already being described as a "big budget" project. No details have been revealed beyond that, but it's a little surprising to see this property prioritised given the negativity which already surrounds that big screen sequel.
While Amy Poehler is set to return as Joy, Inside Out 2 has reportedly lost at least one key member of its ensemble due to disagreements over money. Mindy Kaling, who played Digust, has confirmed she won't return and there are major doubts about Bill Hader's Fear as well.
To counter this, it's thought the sequel will shift focus to a new set of emotions for the teenage Riley, and Poehler's Joy remains the only confirmed original cast member. Passionate Pixar fans have expressed disappointment over this, but the studio must be confident in its new actors and characters.
This Inside Out series may well focus on a new group of emotions in a different person, anyway, so we're intrigued to see how it pans out.
In 2015, Inside Out made over $858 million on a reported $175 million budget, so we perhaps shouldn't be that surprised about this being a well Disney is returning to. However, with Kaling and Hader supposedly passing on the movie after being offered just $100,000 compared to Poehler's $5 million, we're sure more will be said about that as we get closer to Inside Out 2's June 2024 release date.
As for the TV series, it hasn't been officially announced and doesn't have a premiere window.