Everything Old is New Again at D23: Disney’s Business Plan Seems to Hinge on Successful Remakes, Sequels and Prequels
Across all of its franchises, Disney seems to be sticking with the tried and true, if their D23 presentation is any indicator of what’s to come for the company.
From Moana 2 to Freakier Friday to Avatar: Fire and Ash to every movie or television show produced by Marvel, Disney’s new slate of entertainment will boast a lot of familiar faces.
That’s not surprising, given the bounceback the House of Mouse got when Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, both extremely successful, reversed the studio’s fortunes at the box office.
D23, part cosplay convention and part Disney hype-fest, began Friday, August 9th and wrapped up on Sunday. Disney offered the assembled fans sneak-peeks at Moana 2, Avatar 3, The Mandolorian & Grogu, Mufasa: The Lion King, and Agatha All Along, to name a few upcoming releases, and of course they added a heaping helping of music from Kathryn Hahn and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and literal magic from David Blaine.
Disney also brought out director James Cameron, new Captain America Anthony Mackie, Moana’s Dwayne Johnson, the casts of new Marvel series Agatha All Along, Ironheart and Daredevil: Born Again, and reunited the movie mother-daughter team of Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan from Freaky Friday.
Here are the films and series currently on the schedule for Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and more. Release dates, if known, are also listed. The only original IPs listed are The Skeleton Crew, set in the Star Wars universe and Pixar’s Monster Jam, Hoppers and Elio.
Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios
Moana 2 — November 27th, 2024.
Mufasa: The Lion King — December 20th, 2024
Snow White — March 21st, 2025
Lilo & Stitch — Summer 2025
Tron: Ares — October 10th, 2025
Zootopia 2 — November 26th, 2025
Freakier Friday — 2025
Frozen 3 — 2027
Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 — currently in production
20th Century Fox
Avatar: Fire and Ash — December 19th, 2025
Pixar Animation Studios
Win or Lose series — December 6th, 2024
Elio — June 13th, 2025
Hoppers — Spring 2026
Toy Story 5 — June 19th, 2026
Incredibles 3 — currently in production
Monster Jam — currently in production
Dream Productions (series based on Inside Out) — currently in production
Lucasfilm
Skeleton Crew series — December 3rd, 2024
The Mandalorian and Grogu — May 22nd, 2026
Andor Season 2 — currently in production
Marvel Studios
Agatha All Along series — September 18th, 2024
Daredevil: Born Again series — March 1st, 2024
Captain America: Brave New World — February 14th, 2025
Fantastic Four: The First Steps — July 25th, 2025
Ironheart series — 2025
And here are some video clips and trailers from the weekend.