In recent years, Disney has found mixed fortunes with its animated offerings and Pixar, in particular, has struggled to bounce back from its movies being relegated to Disney+ during the pandemic.
When Bob Iger returned as the studio's CEO, it wasn't exactly surprising when he announced plans for Toy Story 5 and Frozen 3. While both movies appear to be in the very early stages of development, those are two franchises which should guarantee Disney a couple of box office hits.
We now have an update on plans for the Frozen threequel and, unfortunately, it won't have filmmaker Jennifer Lee at the helm.
"I can’t say where we are with 'Frozen 3," she tells The Wrap. "All our stories are driven by the artists in the studio. Where we’re going with ‘Frozen’ did not come from me. It came from an incredible person. That’s a new piece, I’ve told no one. And I’ve been blown away by it and I’m just having a blast with that team."
Lee, who helmed Frozen and Frozen II alongside Chris Buck, now serves as Walt Disney Animation Studios' Chief Creative Officer. With that in mind, she's obviously busy overseeing the studio's entire animated slate, something she alluded to during this conversation.
"I’m doing what I do with all the other projects. It’s really fun on 'Frozen,' cause we’ve lived the world for a while together and a lot of the artists in the studio grew up with that film too, both of them, and have been there the whole way. They kinda own them as much as anyone else."
Lee would go on to confirm she'd like to direct again but is clearly embracing her role as an executive within the studio.
Both Frozen movies were box office hits and found a great deal of awards success to boot. The characters and songs are now among Disney's most iconic efforts, so expectations will be high for this third instalment to deliver.
With any luck, we'll have news about the movie's creative team soon.