"Finding Dory" has hit it big, with the largest domestic box office opening for any animated film in history at $136.2 million. With $380.2 million in North America just 18 days after release, it's a stone's throw away from the $380.8 million lifetime gross of its predecessor, "Finding Nemo."
Pixar's sequels seem to print money and win over critics and audiences alike just fine - yet it seems that we won't be seeing sequels to Pixar films beyond 2019. Jim Morris, General Manager and President of Pixar, stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the studio does not have any plans for sequels to previous films, other than the current lineup of films through 2019, which includes Cars 3," "Toy Story 4," and "Incredibles 2."
Morris said that the two films to come after the latter film, which comes out in 2019, will be released in March and June 2020, both of which are original titles set in "unusual but believable worlds that take us in even other directions than we've pursued in the past." There are also two more original films planned beyond the 2020 releases, though they remain without a release date.
While this means that there aren't any near-future plans for sequels to classic Pixar offerings like "WALL-E," "Ratatouille," and "Inside Out," this doesn't mean that the studio doesn't want to make them - it's just a matter of who's available to make them. Morris went on to explain that Pete Docter of "Inside Out" wants to work on an original film, while Brad Bird of "Ratatouille" is busy with the sequel to "The Incredibles."
He also said that "WALL-E," which he produced and worked on with director Andrew Stanton, "was really a love story that had its beginning, middle, and end, so we're not really planning any further stories in those worlds at this point."
So far, Pixar's announced lineup of upcoming films include three sequels and one original film. "Cars 3" is coming on June 16, 2017, original entry "Coco" is coming November of the same year, "Toy Story 4," is getting its release on June 15, 2018, and "The Incredibles 2" is landing on June 21, 2019.
