Even though Disney has delivered some big winners over the past few years, including Encanto and Moana, its biggest cash cow over the last decade has been Frozen. The first feature, released in 2013, made $1.285 BILLION at the box office. I can’t even imagine how much more it generated in licensed products. I mean, did you know a single little girl around that time who didn’t own an Anna or Elsa dress? Or dolls? Or bed sheets, fruit snacks, dishes… you get the point.
The 2019 sequel, simply called Frozen II, earned $1.453 billion. That was right before the COVID-19 pandemic. Had it not been for that, who knows how much more it might have made? At the very least, it might have made more in ancillary VOD and home video sales. Instead, in a goodwill gesture, Disney chose to release it for free on Disney+ for families stuck in quarantine.
In February, Disney CEO Bog Iger announced that Frozen III was in the works along with Toy Story 5 and Zootopia 2. Now, during an appearance on Good Morning America, broadcast from Hong Kong Disneyland where a new Frozen attraction was opening, he has teased that a fourth Frozen “might” also be in the works.
“Frozen 3 is in the works, and there might be a Frozen IV in the works, too. But, I don’t have much to say about those films right now. But Jenn Lee who created Frozen, the original Frozen and Frozen II, is hard at work with her team at Disney Animation on not one but actually two stories.”
In Frozen II, Elsa departed Arendelle to rule over the Northuldra tribe in the Enchanted Forest, although she made frequent trips home for game night.
Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee directed both previous films and co-wrote the screenplays with other contributors. Lee has since stated that she won’t return to direct the third installment, but based on Iger’s statement, she is at least working on the story… or stories.
Are you ready to go into the well-known with two more Frozen sequels?
