Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that sequels to some of the company’s most popular franchises are in the works. In the company’s first quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Iger said Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia will have additional films.
“We’ll have more to share about this production soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises,” Iger said.
After the first Toy Story movie came out in 1995, three sequels came out, with the most recent one in 2019. The beloved kids’ toys franchise has grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide, making it one of Disney’s most successful projects. The film series had a spinoff movie about Buzz Lightyear’s origins as a human – not a toy – released last year.
Tim Allen, who has voiced Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story franchise since the first film, tweeted about the planned fifth installment.
“See ya soon Woody, you are a sad strange little man and you have my pity. And off we go to a number 5! To infinity and beyond!” Allen wrote.
The Frozen franchise has two movies already, grossing over $2.6 billion total worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The first Zootopia movie was released in 2016 and it grossed more than $1 billion worldwide in the box office.
The announcement comes as Iger said the company would cut about 7,000 jobs as part of a “significant transformation.”
The job cuts amount to about 3% of the media and entertainment’s global workforce and were announced after Disney reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street’s forecasts. The layoffs are part of a broader effort by Disney to lower costs by $5.5 billion.
Iger, who returned as CEO in November following a challenging two-year tenure by his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, is under pressure to revive the company’s financial fortunes and its stock price, which has tumbled 24% in the last year.
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