Latest news with #PeteDocter
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rumors Disney and Pixar are making a sequel to beloved classic DECADES after its release fiercely divides fans
Rumors that Disney is making a sequel to a beloved classic nearly two decades after it came out has left its longtime fans fiercely divided. Speculation has erupted on social media this week that Ratatouille 2 is in the works at Disney. The 2007 animated film Ratatouille, produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, followed a rat named Remy who dreamed of becoming a chef - and it was a massive success. Hundreds of the original movie's fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their thoughts over the potential reboot. And while some people were ecstatic over the possibility of their favorite rodent returning to the big screen for another adventure, others were not a fan of the idea. The rumors began to circulate after film buff and entertainment journalist Jeff Sneider said during a recent appearance on The Hot Mic podcast that he believes Ratatouille 2 is happening. 'I heard [about] it a while back and it was denied. But I was like 'I don't know if I'm buying that denial,'' he said. 'I'm pretty sure that there will be a sequel. You can't do a proper sequel to Up, necessarily. Maybe you could for WALL-E. But Ratatouille screams sequel.' His comment came after Pixar CCO Pete Docter revealed that the animation studio plans to release one original film followed by a sequel from now on. While the movie is not confirmed, Sneider's comments led to an eruption of rumors on social media, and fans seemed completely split over the possibility of a sequel. 'Ratatouille 2 is reportedly in the works at Disney,' popular X account known as Pop Tingz wrote in a now-viral post on Thursday. In the replies, some people begged Disney and Pixar not to make the second movie because they feared it wouldn't do the original justice and could 'ruin' the story. 'DO NOT RUIN THIS AMAZING MOVIE,' one user frantically wrote. 'This is literally my favorite cartoon of all time, please don't do this,' pleaded another. 'Please don't. Don't ruin this masterpiece,' someone else added. 'We don't want it,' read a fourth comment, while a fifth said, 'If they f**k this up they won't live to tell the tale, but if they do it right it might be the best movie ever.' Some people begged Disney not to make the second movie because they feared it wouldn't do the original justice and could 'ruin' the story. While others claimed it wasn't necessary Some people, however, were super excited by the rumors Others claimed that the follow-up wasn't necessary. 'There's literally no reason for a sequel...' scathed a different user. 'They just can't leave childhood classics alone,' another outraged person penned. 'I feel like if a movie has gone at least seven years without a sequel, it should just end there,' announced one fan. 'Does nobody have any new ideas?' asked another. 'Just remakes and unnecessary sequels.' Some people, however, were super excited by the rumors. 'That's a recipe for magic... Disney cooking up something special again,' gushed one supporter. 'Oh my goodness, finally something good,' another wrote. 'OH I'M SAT FOR THIS ONE ACTUALLY,' someone else said. Other posts read, 'Omg my childhood,' 'Finally,' and, 'About time.' The original Ratatouille film starred Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Brad Garrett, Peter O'Toole, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, and Janeane Garofalo. It grossed $623.7 million worldwide at the box office and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Could Pixar's ‘Elio' Bounce Back from an All-Time Low the Way ‘Elemental' Did?
Start writing those Pixar obituaries again. 'Elio,' the animation studio's latest original film, had the worst box office opening of any film in Pixar's history, hitting just $21 million domestic and $35 million globally. 'Elemental' from 2023, which was also Pixar's last original film, opened to $29.6 million domestic, which until 'Elio' was the worst opening for a Pixar movie (technically the original 'Toy Story' from 1995 opened an eyelash lower), and with two busts in a row, it's led to a lot of handwringing about whether or not Pixar still has the capacity of opening an original film or if they should still even try. 'Inside Out 2' last year quelled some fears about Pixar's capacity to hit it big, reaching $1.6 billion as the biggest movie of 2024. And coming up Pixar has 'Toy Story 5' and 'Incredibles 3' in the works, but also another original feature called 'Flow' 'Gatto' from the director of 'Luca.' More from IndieWire Netflix Canceled the Release of a Gore Vidal Biopic Eight Years Ago - for the Filmmakers, the Story Isn't Over The Academy Reveals Board of Governors for 2025-2026 An article in Puck after the 'Elio' bomb wondered why Pixar doesn't try threading the needle by taking on some other IP. Maybe they're not interested in becoming Illumination and doing a bunch of Nintendo and 'Super Mario Bros.' movies, but could there be another video game that would fit the Pixar brand? The only problem is Pixar has never done that and has never needed to, so it's not hard to imagine Pete Docter being very much against that. 'Elemental,' though, is the movie Disney and Pixar will want to look at if it wants to be seen as anything but a bomb. After that $29.6 million opening, it legged out to $154 million domestic and $496 million global, good for a whopping 5.2 multiple. With the exception of 'Sound of Freedom,' it was the surprise box office success story of 2023. The movie never hit #1, but it also never saw a weekend drop below 40 percent until it was in its 9th weekend in theaters. From there, it lasted another five weeks in theaters and even had a generous bump on Labor Day weekend. Suffice it to say, before that outcome Pixar was written off for dead then, too. And it was a fair assessment considering three different Pixar movies were all previously shunted to streaming with no theatrical, and the studio's other IP adaptation, 'Lightyear,' also bombed with just $226 million globally and some of the worst reviews of Pixar's history. Can 'Elio' replicate the longevity of 'Elemental?' Both films got an 'A' CinemaScore, and 'Elio' had even better reviews with an 84 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. 'Elio' also still needs to open in a few international markets, most notably China, where 'Elemental' managed to gross about $15 million. But 'Elemental' depended heavily on its international haul. More than two-thirds of its global total came from international markets. A $14 million start for 'Elio' is comparatively soft. 'Elemental' made $15 million in its international debut but only opened in a handful of significant markets that first week; 'Elio' already opened in 80 percent of its international footprint. On the domestic front, even if 'Elio' matched the multiple of 'Elemental,' it would top out at $109.2 million. And if it replicated the 'Elemental' success in foreign territories, the overall best case scenario for 'Elio' would be in the ballpark of $350 million globally, potentially a profitable film for Pixar but also still among the lowest overall runs for a Pixar movie. Only 2015's 'The Good Dinosaur' ($332 million), 'Lightyear' ($226 million), and 'Onward,' ($146 million), a movie whose run was cut short by pandemic theater closures, would be lower. 'Elemental' also was in theaters at a time when there were relatively few other kids movies available, as films like 'Trolls Band Together,' 'Puss In Boots: The Last Wish' and Disney's 'Wish' wouldn't open until late in the year. 'Elio' moved by a week (it was even bumped from an earlier release in March) to give itself breathing room from Universal's live-action remake of 'How to Train Your Dragon,' which repeated at #1 this weekend and has now crossed $350 million globally after just two weekends in theaters. Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch,' another sci-fi involving aliens, is also taking up some of 'Elio's' oxygen as well. So where does Pixar go from here? One would hope it's not making 'Cars' and 'Finding Nemo' sequels forever. IndieWire's Screen Talk podcast made the case that Pixar's latest films have seemed to move away from making movies for adults, and 'Elio' especially skews toward a younger audience. Pixar's last original hit, 'Coco' from way back in 2017, was a film that grappled with death and idolized a fictional Mexican musical icon who embodied music that was popular decades before most of its younger audience was born. 'Soul,' Pixar's other recent film that certainly has a more mature bent, didn't get a domestic theatrical release, but still pulled in $123.5 million worldwide in 2020. 'Elio' is hardly a good result, but we've been wrong about signing their death certificate too soon before. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
Los Angeles Times
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Pixar needs original animated hits. They're much harder to come by at the box office
For decades, Pixar could hardly miss with its original animated films. Whether the subject was toys, fish or a cantankerous old man, the Emeryville-based computer animation studio churned out hit after hit. But since the COVID-19 pandemic, Pixar and other animation studios have struggled to break through at the box office with the same kinds of original movies that defined the industry. Instead, sequels such as 'Inside Out 2' have ruled the genre. This weekend, Walt Disney Co.-owned Pixar will face its latest test with the release of 'Elio,' an original film about a young boy who seeks connection with aliens to make up for his loneliness on Earth. The movie is currently tracking to bring in $18 million to $25 million in ticket sales from the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, according to box office analysis. (The film's reported budget is in the range of $150 million to $200 million.) That would be considered a soft debut by Pixar standards, indicating the dilemma the animation business — and the movie industry writ large — faces with original content. While audiences often say they want to see new stories, box office ticket sales show they gravitate toward sequels, reboots and other familiar fare. 'You need to be launching new franchises to keep the pipeline fresh,' said Doug Creutz, senior media and entertainment analyst at TD Cowen. 'Since the pandemic ended, original animated films have just been getting killed at the box office ... no matter how good they are.' Pixar executives, nonetheless, say they're committed to telling original stories, which are key to the future health of the industry. 'You wouldn't have Pixar without 'Toy Story,' our first original film 30 years ago!' Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter wrote in an emailed statement. 'And while we also love digging into new layers of familiar worlds and characters through our sequels, I'd say there's a unique thrill in unearthing a new story.' Disney and Pixar's previous original movie 'Elemental' made just $29.6 million in its opening weekend in 2023, causing many in the industry to write it off as a flop, before strong word-of-mouth reviews propelled the film to a solid worldwide gross of $496 million. Sister studio Walt Disney Animation Studios has also recently struggled with originals, including 2022's 'Strange World' and 2023's 'Wish.' The pandemic had a major effect on theatrical attendance for animated films. At the onset, studios including Pixar put their new animated movies on streaming services to give families something to watch during the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and keep people from spreading the disease. Movies like 2020's 'Soul,' 2021's 'Luca' and 2022's 'Turning Red' were all sent straight to the Disney+ streaming service. Despite critical acclaim — winning an Academy Award for animated feature — 'Soul' grossed just $121.9 million in worldwide theatrical revenue. Even when movie theaters started reopening, families were slow to return due to concerns about health and familiarity with watching movies at home, which dented animated films' box office potential. Pixar's 2022 'Toy Story' spinoff 'Lightyear' did poorly at the box office partially due to this timing, as well as quality issues, marketing challenges and right-wing backlash to an on-screen kiss between a same-sex couple. Other studios, too, face challenges with originals. Universal Pictures' 2023 original animated movie 'Migration' also saw a soft box office total. The same year, Universal grossed more than $1 billion from 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie,' based on the Nintendo game franchise. Last year, Universal's 'The Wild Robot,' which is adapted from a 2016 children's book, debuted to strong reviews, but grossed $333 million in box office revenue, compared to the $492 million reaped by Paramount Pictures' 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3.' Now family films are ruling the box office. So far this summer, many of the films that have propelled the box office are family-friendly — Warner Bros. Pictures' 'A Minecraft Movie,' and live-action remakes 'Lilo & Stitch' from Disney and 'How to Train Your Dragon' from Universal. Last year, Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' hauled in nearly $1.7 billion in global box office revenue last year, while Universal and Illumination Entertainment's 'Despicable Me 4' grossed $969.6 million worldwide and Disney's 'Moana 2' made $1 billion. The common denominator among these films? They're all sequels, reboots or rely on known intellectual property. But industry insiders and analysts say that simply focusing on new chapters of existing stories risks making the animation space stale. 'If you're trying to grow the business, you need new content, you need new franchises, you need new things for people to be excited about,' said Creutz of TD Cowen. But beyond the box office, Pixar original films can get exposure — and drive business — through other parts of the Disney empire. Movies eventually debut on Disney+ and characters will show up on merchandise or in the theme parks, which can expand a film's reach. 'Pixar is in the long-term business,' said David A. Gross, who writes a movie industry newsletter. 'They want to create stories that last, and if that works in bringing back a sequel, great, but there is enormous value for streaming for these pictures, whatever they do in theatrical. There are a lot of revenue streams.' Pixar intends to release three movies every two years, and the company's strategy is to make one original for every sequel, company sources said. For instance, 'Elio' was intended for release in 2024, but was delayed by the dual writers' and actors' strikes of 2023. Instead, it swapped with 'Inside Out 2' since sequels can be easier to move through the production process due to existing assets. 'Pixar was really instrumental in defining the look and the feel and the tone of computer-animated films,' said Christopher Holliday, a senior lecturer in liberal arts and visual cultures education at King's College London, who wrote a book about computer-animated films. The company 'is now at one of those crossroads where they are trying to balance films that have an audience built into them,' Holliday said. 'And then they're also balancing their identity as a studio of innovation that is pushing the boundaries and the limits of computer animation.' Next year, Pixar plans to release 'Toy Story 5' as well as an original film called 'Hoppers' about a new technology that allows humans and animals to communicate. In 2027, Pixar said it will debut 'Gatto,' an original movie about a cat with multiple lives. 'We think audiences love originals too,' Docter said. 'Sure, it might be a bit harder nowadays to break through all the noise out there, but if we do our jobs, and create something that people will love, we trust that audiences will show up.'
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pixar Gives First Look at ‘Toy Story 5,' Teases New Original ‘Gatto' at Annecy
Pixar Animation Studios offered an exclusive first look at its hottest upcoming features — including Hoppers and Toy Story 5 — and announced a brand-new original production, Gatto, during a studio presentation on Friday at the Annecy international animation film festival as part of a broader showcase that also included extensive footage from Pixar's 2025 release Elio. Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter took the stage to present behind-the-scenes material from Toy Story 5, revealing early footage and confirming the return of franchise veterans Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cussack. Directed by Andrew Stanton and McKenna Harris and produced by Jessica Choi, the fifth installment in Pixar's flagship franchise is scheduled for release on June 19, 2026. More from The Hollywood Reporter Corporate-TV Branding Has Gotten Out of Control Natalie Portman-Produced French Animated Film 'Arco' Wins Annecy Chinese Auteur Bi Gan Breaks Down 'Resurrection,' His Mesmerizing Ode to Cinema's Enigmas Docter shared that the new film will explore the challenges faced by the toys in a digital-first world. 'It's Toy meets Tech,' he said, outlining the film's plot, which will see the original movies' team of toys facing up to the challenge presented by the new favorite plaything of their 8-year-old owner Bonnie Anderson: A tech tablet called Lillypad. Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang will confront a new generation of children more enamored with screens than playthings. Docter screened the world premiere of the film's opening scene, in which a container full of Buzz Lightyears awakens on an isolated desert island and struggles to reconnect with 'star command.' Toy Story 5 will also feature Ernie Hudson voicing Combat Carl, taking over the role originally voiced by the late Carl Weathers. In honor of the franchise's 30th anniversary, the Annecy audience was also treated to archival footage from the making of the original 1995 Toy Story, Pixar's first full-length feature. Docter also announced a brand-new animated feature, the original Gatto. The feature, to be directed by Luca filmmaker Enrico Casarosa, follows Nero, a water-hating black cat living in the picturesque city of Venice, Italy, who befriends Maya, a lonely street musician. Docter gave a sneak peek at the first animated tests and character drawings for the movie, which will have a much more painterly design than is typical of Pixar. Gatto is set to premiere in the summer of 2027. The studio also debuted a first-look clip from Hoppers, an original Pixar comedy about Mabel (Piper Curda), a nature-loving young woman trying to stop the local Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm), from building a highway that will destroy her local woodlands. Thanks to a secret brain-swapping experiment, Mabel is able to transfer her mind into a robot beaver and heads to a pond, where refugees from the encroaching industrialization have landed. There, she tries to convince the animals, led by the regal beaver King George (Bobby Moynihan) to join her and stop the highway. The Annecy session also included a preview of Elio, directed by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, and produced by Mary Alice Drumm. The science fiction adventure, which premieres in theaters on June 20, follows 11-year-old Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), who is mistakenly identified as Earth's ambassador after being abducted by aliens. The voice cast includes Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil and Shirley Henderson. Elio premiered earlier this week in Los Angeles. The Annecy crowd was treated to a full 25 minutes of footage. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
CNA
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Pixar's Toy Story 5 introduces new antagonist, a tech-savvy tablet
Pixar's blockbuster hit, Toy Story is returning to the big screen with its fifth edition, set to premiere on Jun 19, 2026. Pete Docter, Pixar's chief creative officer, presented exclusive behind-the-scenes clips from Toy Story 5 at the Anncey International Animation Film Festival on Friday (Jun 13). Docter unveiled the film's first two minutes, which included a reveal of the film's new antagonist – a frog-themed tablet named Lily Pad, belonging to eight-year-old owner Bonnie Anderson. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Toy Story 5 is set in a tech-driven world and will delve into the struggles faced by traditional toys as they compete with digital distractions. With the tagline, 'Toy meets Tech', the story will follow Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the team as they navigate a new generation of children who are more captivated by screens than physical toys. The opening scene also highlighted a container full of Buzz Lightyears stranded on a desert island, each awakening and trying to reconnect with star command, Buzz's internal control system. The thrilling opening teases another high-stakes adventure that fans can look forward to.
