Incredibles 3: Will Pixar Complete This Trilogy?
The Incredibles 3 has been discussed, but there are no immediate plans for a third movie in the Pixar franchise.
Why are we talking about The Incredibles 3? Because the original Incredibles was that good. From the moment Pixar released The Incredibles in 2004, fans were clamoring for a sequel. They got it, in Incredibles 2, and because this is Pixar after all, it was so good that now fans want another one.
There has actually been some talk about a third Incredibles film since Incredibles 2 was released in 2018. Fans are rightfully hoping that they’ll one day see the Parr family again.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at if Incredibles 3 could happen and whether this is actually in the plans from the Pixar family.
THE INCREDIBLES 3 COULD BE ON THE WAY FROM PIXAR
In June 2023, Pixar boss Pete Docter discussed some possible movies coming from the studio in the future and he was specific with a few of them. In an interview with Variety, he was asked specifically about franchises like Toy Story, Cars, Nemo, and The Incredibles.
Docter said, “We’re looking to tap these amazingly talented people I get to work with to talk about universal stories that are about life issues that we all face. Our movies on the surface are about fish, cars and monsters, but just below that, they’re really about all of us, and the challenge of dealing with loss, becoming a parent, finding our place in the world.”
While this wasn’t a green light for new movies in each franchise, or even for The Incredibles 3, it also was an admission that they are still looking into adding to these franchises with the right stories. This group definitely fits the bill in that respect.
THERE WERE 14 YEARS BETWEEN THE INCREDIBLES AND THE SEQUEL
The adventures of the Parr family were almost immediately called one of the greatest superhero films of all-time – an opinion that still stands despite the deluge of superhero films that would soon follow. It became one of the Pixar films to win multiple Oscars, including Best Animated Feature. And it was a financial windfall as well. The Incredibles went on to make over $631 million at the worldwide box office.
Despite audience anticipation for the next installment in director Brad Bird’s story and with Pixar releasing sequels to many of their stories between films – including sequels for Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and multiple Cars sequels – it would take 14 years before Incredibles 2 would finally get its release in 2018.
Incredibles 2 would become the most successful Pixar film of all time, making over $1.2 billion worldwide. At the time, it was the 18th highest-grossing film ever and the fourth highest-grossing animated film of all time. Incredibles 2 was also nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar (which it lost to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), and was called the Best Animated Film of 2018 by the National Board of Review.
PIXAR HAS BEEN MORE HESITANT TO MAKE SEQUELS
When Pixar started releasing feature-length films in 1995, they were praised for their originality, crafting unique stories the likes of which had never been seen through groundbreaking computer animation.
Pixar prided itself on brilliant, one-of-a-kind stories, like WALL-E, Up, and of course, The Incredibles, just in the first decade and a half of the studio’s feature-length career.
Yet a few years after Disney bought Pixar in 2006, the studio started to lean into the idea of doing more sequels. Throughout the entire 1990s and 2000s, Pixar only made one sequel – Toy Story 2 – and yet in the 2010s, seven of the 11 films Pixar would release would be sequels.
While many of these sequels were incredibly successful for Pixar, fans took notice that the studio wasn’t creating as many original ideas as they once did in their heyday.
However, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2019 for Toy Story 4, producer Mark Nielsen said about Pixar, “It’s all original films after this one right now.” If there ever will be an Incredibles 3, the wait is going to be significant.
PIXAR’S FUTURE PLANS INCLUDE ORIGINAL MOVIES AND ONE SEQUEL WITH INSIDE OUT 2
Pixar’s recent run of movies has included only originals even though the release schedules on these films did coincide some with the pandemic and theaters either closed or at less-than-full capacity.
That being said, from a critical perspective, the Pixar lineup has performed well. Recent flicks include Soul, Luca, Turning Red, and Lightyear. The latter was tangentially related to the Toy Story franchise though not a sequel. Instead, it was a story about the titular character we met in those previous films.
Coming up, there’s going to be a run of original films with one other sequel thrown in there. There will be Elemental in the summer of 2023. And then in 2024 Pixar will release Elio.
The sequel will be Inside Out 2 which is set to hit theaters in the summer of 2024. That story sets itself up well for a follow-up on how Riley ended up growing and what happened with Joy and the rest of the crew.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON WOULD RETURN TO THE CAST OF INCREDIBLES 3
In interviews with Moviefone during the Incredibles 2 press junket, several members of the cast were asked their thoughts on a potential third film in the series.
When asked if he would come back for Incredibles 3, the film’s Frozone, Samuel L. Jackson said “of course,” but then followed that up by saying, “It’s going to be a while.”
When asked if she would sign up for an Incredibles 3 if Bird were to call her with another idea, Mrs. Incredible, Holly Hunter said, “Oh, I truly don’t count on that at all.”
DIRECTOR BRAD BIRD SAYS HE HAS IDEAS FOR THE INCREDIBLES 3
In that same interview, when asked if Bird has any ideas for The Incredibles 3, he stated, “I love The Incredibles. I love the characters and I would never rule it out, but it’s not on my mind.” Bird also criticized that audiences always ask for more of what they have already seen, rather than something new.
Bird seems to be focused on doing something completely original than the films he’s done before. In an interview with Variety last year, Brad Bird said of his next project:
“It’s a musical, actually. I don’t know anything about musicals so I figured I should do this, because I’m deathly afraid of it and it seems like a cool thing. It’s a project I’ve been wanting to make for a long time, it’s got about 20 minutes of animation in it. It’s an original project, I assure you you don’t know.”
The project will also feature music from frequent Pixar composer Michael Giacchino. Back in 2005, Pixar was planning their first live-action production with Bird, an adaptation of James Dalessandro’s novel 1906. Disney and Pixar backed out of the film and it’s supposedly still in limbo at Warner Bros. However, Bird’s new project sounds like something wholly different.
At this point, it doesn’t seem like Incredibles 3 is anywhere near a reality, or even an idea in Bird’s head at the moment. Since Pixar likely won’t move forward with the franchise without Bird’s involvement, fans are likely going to have to wait quite some time for Incredibles 3, if it even happens at all.
However, it seems far more likely that Bird could make another original property for Pixar in the near future, but again, there seems to be no plans currently to speak of.
