Posted in: Disney, Movies, Pixar | Tagged: hoppers, monsters inc. 3, pixar

Pixar: Monsters Inc. 3 Confirmed, 2 New Original Films In Development

Monsters Inc. 3 and two new original movies are reportedly in development, but the future of Pixar still looks uncertain following concerning comments from Pete Docter.

This weekend is looking pretty good for Pixar Animation. The studio that got the shortest end of the pandemic stick over at Disney has been on a weird little journey in a post-COVID-19 world. Three of the studio's films had to go to Disney+ due to shutdowns, and its 2020 release didn't get a chance to thrive at the box office before the entire world came to a halt in March 2020. Once the studio returned to theaters, Lightyear underperformed massively, and Elemental was a box-office slowburn with mediocre reviews that weren't what people expected from the studio.

Then word came down that Pixar would be shifting its focus to established IP, and with Inside Out 2 doing extremely well and Elio bombing, it seemed like everything was resting on Hoppers this weekend if we were ever going to see an original movie at Pixar again. So far, it looks like Hoppers is proving there is still life in original storytelling, and maybe things behind the scenes are dire, but maybe not as dire as we thought.

Toy Story 5 is right around the corner, and there are major sequels in the pipeline as well, including Incredibles 3 and Coco 2. In a sprawling Wall Street Journal piece, packed with some really problematic statements from Pete Docter, it seems that more sequels are still on the way. This is the first time it has been confirmed in writing that a third Monsters Inc. film is in the works. That's three big sequels in the works over at Pixar, and who knows what else could be in development.

However, there is also hope for fans of original storytelling as well. Hoppers director Daniel Chong said in the lead up to the release of the new original films that, "But I do think Pixar is still investing very hard in original film. They understand that you can't keep making sequels. Originals have to exist. So, I do feel like they're one of the few studios that are really going hard on making more originals, and I'm excited to see what the future for Pixar brings."

Gatto is the next original Pixar movie set to be released in 2027, but the Wall Street Journal article has confirmed two other movies are in the works as well. Ono Ghost Market is described as "inspired by Asian myths about supernatural bazaars where the living and dead interact" and was reportedly originally intended to be a streaming series. Turning Red director Domee Shi is reportedly developing the first ever musical for the studio.

Things are not perfect at Pixar. Docter's statement regarding the cut LGBTQIA+ themes from the initial cut of Elio and the cut trans storyline from Win or Lose are very worrying. Docter reportedly said, "We're making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy," even though Pixar movies have always touched on all aspects of the human experience. It seems there is an element to the human experience that they aren't willing to address.

That, and the emphasis on established IP, is still concerning, but the success of Hoppers and the news of other projects possibly in the pipeline suggest it might not be all sequels and spin-offs from the studio that used to be the crown jewel of Walt Disney Studios.

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