Inside Out 2 is rocking the box office, and more is coming in 2025... as a Disney+ series
We admit the pitch is pretty good.
Inside Out 2 has quickly become the box office behemoth that Disney was desperately looking for this year (with Deadpool & Wolverine likely wowing next month too). This may accelerate franchise-building plans around the IP, and Disney and Pixar are probably very thankful they were already developing an Inside Out series for Disney Plus that will arrive next year.
Peter Docter, Pixar's current Chief Creative Officer, recently talked to Entertainment Weekly (via Deadline) about the sequel, Pixar's plans for the future, and what to expect from the aforementioned Disney Plus show. Surprisingly enough, it appears work on it has already concluded.
"We have finished. It’s coming out next spring. I’m not sure that there’s been a specific release date," he stated. The fact he knows nothing about the potential release window is less surprising, since Disney typically keeps those close to its chest as the people in charge try to come up with a strong release schedule for everything coming from every studio under the company's umbrella.
We'd also learned some details about the show's basic premise in the past, but since the marketing campaign is far from kicking off, Docter was happy to share a few more details: "In the first film, remember we go to Dream Production to see how Riley’s dreams are made? It semi-explains why they’re so weird... We’ve continued the exploration of the power of dreams and how they affect us in our waking life, as well. So it’s pretty cool." That really sounds like a different-enough premise to make us care about the series. In other cases, made-for-TV extensions of animated Disney/Pixar hits have often felt disposable at best.
A little over one week into its theatrical run, Inside Out 2 has already amassed over $370 million worldwide, starting with a second-best-ever opening for an animated movie in the US (only behind The Incredibles 2). It really feels like a pre-pandemic animated hit, and it's already bringing in the best box office numbers since last year's Barbie craze. Will Walt Disney Animation's Moana 2 get anywhere near that level of success when it releases later this year?