Coco 2 is officially in development at Disney and Pixar. The announcement was made by Bob Iger during this year’s annual shareholder meeting of the Walt Disney Company. The sequel is expected to debut in theaters in 2029. No details were given regarding the premise of the new story, which will allow audiences to return to the world where the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos steals the spotlight. Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina will work on the development of the sequel. Unkrich worked on the first Coco movie, after being involved with Pixar for more than a decade.
Coco introduced Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez), a young boy with a deep love for music who couldn’t understand why his family didn’t allow songs to be played at home. An unpredictable journey led him to meet Héctor (Gael García Bernal). The character was revealed to be Miguel’s ancestor, who couldn’t make it back home after he was murdered by Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). Héctor and Miguel teamed up in order to make the villain confess his crimes. Miguel learned how a wound can transcend generations in an original story that became a smash hit for Disney and Pixar.
Before Lee Unkrich was involved with the development of what is now the Coco franchise, the filmmaker handled Toy Story 3 for Disney and Pixar. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the artist who was involved in the making of animated classics such as Inside Out and Finding Nemo. It’s evident that both Disney and Pixar trust Unkrich with anything he wants to do, which is why the director has been selected to work on Coco 2.
Yet Another Pixar Sequel
One of the reasons why the studio might be working on yet another sequel could be the fact that Inside Out 2 broke multiple global box office records when it was released last summer. Original stories such as Turning Red and Luca might be entertaining for audiences, but it’s clear that there’s much more demand for sequels that include characters that viewers are already familiar with. Other titles in Pixar‘s upcoming slate include Hoppers, Toy Story 5 and a third Incredibles movie. Time will tell if these sequels will continue to become billion-dollar hits for Disney, or if it’s time for the studio to produce more original stories.
Coco 2 will premiere in theaters in 2029.
via Collider