Frozen is one of the biggest animated films ever with a box office gross of almost $1.3 billion. In fact, only three animated movies have made much – The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Frozen II, and 2019’s The Lion King. Given how both installments of the film performed, it was only natural that Disney would develop a third installment. The only problem was when and now we finally have an answer.
Jennifer Lee, the Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation, has revealed that the company is already working on the third Frozen film. Lee disclosed this information yesterday during a keynote session at the London Film Festival.
Lee didn’t reveal much about the upcoming threequel. However, she couldn’t help but gush about the progress they’ve made on the film so far. In her words, “All I’ll say is that last week, they carved out time for me to work with the creative team on it, and I’m blown away.”
We can’t say that Lee’s revelation surprised us as the writing was already on the wall. Earlier this year, Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, announced that the studio was going back to basics. Their recent ventures, featuring original content, were failing at the box office so they decided to lean into their established IPs that guarantee box office success.
Before she was appointed Disney Animation’s CCO, Lee was a filmmaker. Coincidentally, she was one of the writers as well as the co-director of the two previous Frozen films.
Fun fact: Her work on the first Frozen film earned her the title of the highest-grossing female director ever at the local box office until Wonder Woman took the crown and then Barbie. Her work on the second makes her the highest-grossing female director ever.
Given Lee’s history with the franchise, we can only imagine the amount of pride she feels that it lives on and will spawn a third entry. We would also expect her to take a hands-on approach with the project but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
During the session, the 51-year-old confessed, “I don’t know what I’m doing on it yet, I might be doing nothing.”
We – and every fan of the franchise for that matter – would have loved more information about the film. For instance, we would have loved to know where it is in the production process and when Disney estimates it will arrive in theaters. Unfortunately, Lee wasn’t willing to part with that information to our disappointment.
The Frozen franchise is to the 2010s what Lion King was to the 1990s. By that, we mean it is the defining animation for a new generation and the source of many a future nostalgic memories. While Disney owns the IP, we hope they remember that they have a responsibility to not ruin those memories and, as a result, write an excellent story that will deepen the nostalgia and not accomplish the opposite.
