Following D23, Disney has officially set release dates for the highly anticipated Frozen III as well as the latest Pixar film, Hoppers. While 2024 is barely over and 2025 is just on the horizon, Disney is staking claim to release dates for two films over two years in advance. Disney is letting family audiences know to mark their calendars for Frozen III, as the third entry in the multi-billion dollar animated franchise is coming to theaters in 2027.
Per Deadline, Disney has set Frozen III for release on November 24, 2027, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Frozen and Frozen II opened close to the Thanksgiving holiday and went on to gross $1 billion at the worldwide box office, so this is a smart move for Disney. Meanwhile, the studio has set Pixar's latest original film, Hoppers, for a March 6, 2026 release date. Announced at D23, Hoppers is about a young girl who can "hop" her consciousness into a robotic animal.
Release Date Impacts Frozen III Animation
The 2027 release date for Frozen III means it will arrive eight years after Frozen II, which is a longer gap than the six years between that sequel and the original Frozen. By the time Frozen III hits theaters, it will have been 14 years since the first film opened, meaning an entire generation will have grown up with Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf's adventures on the big screen. It will be interesting to see if there is a big gap between Frozen III and Frozen 4, which was hinted at by Bob Iger in 2023 and recently confirmed at D23.
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Disney setting Pixar's Hoppers for spring 2026 feels fitting for a number of reasons. It will follow Elio's 2025 release and will be one of two Pixar films opening in theaters in 2026, as Toy Story 5 will be released on June 19, 2026. March 6, 2026, will be the sixth anniversary of the release of Onward, which was Pixar's first original film after a slew of sequels whose theater chances were dashed; Onward opened one week before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters for a whole year.
Releasing Hoppers in the same year as Toy Story 5 marks a similar pattern to the one Disney and Pixar took in 2022: The original film Turning Red was originally intended for theatrical release in March alongside the Toy Story-adjacent Lightyear in an effort to have a franchise film bolster an original idea. However, Disney sent Turning Red straight to Disney+, and Lightyear bombed at the box office. Hopefully, 2026 will turn out better.