What Comes Next for Disney Movies?
Every 15-20 years, The Walt Disney Company reboots its film division.
Walt Disney Animation Studios started the company’s reign of dominance, but its stories have evolved across generations.
Most recently, Disney relied on a combination of Marvel movies and live-action adaptations of classic films.
Now that both these markets have dried up, an obvious question arises.
What comes next for Disney movies?
Assessing the Carnage


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Since our inception, MickeyBlog has discussed a film executive named Sean Bailey about 30 times.
I’m guessing he hadn’t made much of an impression on you for a couple of reasons. The first was his nondescript name.


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The second was that for the longest time, everyone in Hollywood knew that industry icon Alan Horn ran Disney from 2012-2020.
Sean Bailey kind of hid in plain sight as the President of Live-Action Production for Walt Disney Pictures.


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Bailey held that title until the other day, when Disney unceremoniously dumped him after a storied 15-year tenure.
How good was Bailey at his job? He legitimately has a claim as the best live-action producer of this generation, one with financial support.
Alas, that success came at a cost, as I discussed in a recent piece.
Bailey uncovered a kind of Hollywood business exploit that mined several older Disney brands for box office gold.


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Disney fans loved watching classic characters in updated stories, ones that felt more modern.
Well, fans loved those films right up until they didn’t, at which point every remake became a flashpoint for controversy.



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We as a society turned on the concept of the live-action remake as quickly as we soured on Twilight and Divergent. And nobody even remembers Divergent.
Now, one of Disney’s greatest box office strengths of the past 15 years is suddenly out of vogue, which causes ripple effects.
Disney Crosses the Line


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Almost a year ago, I compiled a list of all the upcoming Disney live-action remakes in the pipeline.
The term “overkill” doesn’t go far enough in describing how far Disney and Bailey extended the premise.


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By my count at the time, Disney had 18 titles in the pipeline.
Two of those titles, Peter Pan & Wendy and The Little Mermaid, debuted in 2023.


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Another, Mufasa: The Lion King, will debut later this year, while Disney delayed the struggling Snow White until 2025.
Perhaps no film exemplifies Disney’s live-action struggles more than The Little Mermaid, which suffered a negative review slander campaign.


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Many of the votes didn’t come from people who had seen the movie. They were simply against the idea of a different-looking Ariel.
Then, Rachel Zegler made some perfectly reasonable comments about the Snow White of 1937 vs. today, and critics assailed her.


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Disney pushed Snow White into next year in hopes of quieting the noise, as CEO Bob Iger calls it.
The live-action remakes of Disney classics suffered a dramatic reversal of fortune during the pandemic.


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Now, fans bemoan the presence of each title, forcing Disney to market them differently…and at a higher cost.
Bailey, with Iger’s blessing, committed to remaking roughly one-third of Disney’s entire animated film library.


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The entire pop culture world collectively expressed displeasure at the idea, and now Disney faces a crossroads.
As Iger has acknowledged, Disney spent money developing films studio executives know shouldn’t be completed.
Disney Adjusts on the Fly


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That list of 16 upcoming live-action titles has shrunk dramatically, although we don’t have an exact headcount yet.
Here’s what we do know. Iger recently commented on Disney’s upcoming slate.
The CEO admitted, “You have to kill things you no longer believe in.”
He added, “We’ve actually made those tough calls. We’ve not been that public about it, but we’ve killed a few projects already that we just didn’t feel were strong enough.”


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Iger didn’t name names, but The Sword in the Stone and Bambi appear to be two of the casualties.
Before we discuss what else may be canceled, let’s talk about the projects we know will gain theatrical releases.


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The first is the aforementioned Mufasa prequel, followed by Snow White (2025).
Other titles that remain on the docket are the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch, which is nearing the completion of principal photography, and Moana (2026).


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Disney is about to go all-in on Moana as a brand, with Moana 2 debuting in theaters later this year.
Technically, the live-action remake co-starring The Rock has a release date in the summer of 2025.


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However, I sincerely doubt that date will hold, as it would be only about six months after Moana 2.
Also, principal photography hasn’t started, which makes a 15-month window too tight to be viable.


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Disney hasn’t announced it yet, but I suspect that it has chosen the animated sequel in lieu of the live-action project in the short term.
The Rock’s updated version of Moana still appears likely to film during the fourth quarter of 2024, though.
Disney Ditches Quantity to Improve Quality


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That’s precisely the kind of decision occurring behind the scenes at Disney right now.
What the company has announced isn’t the same as what has happened in conversations between Disney executives.


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Disney still lists Cruella 2 as in the pipeline, with Emma Stone recently providing an optimistic update.
The Wrap recently referenced previously announced projects like Aristocats and Hercules.


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Beyond these titles, the future of Disney’s live-action remakes appears cloudy at best.
Obviously, anything can change if a title like Snow White, Lilo & Stitch, or Moana breaks out.


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In the short term, Disney appears to have canceled most of its previously planned live-action remakes, at least in the short term.
Instead, Disney will take a different approach from the past ten years.
What Comes Next for Disney Movies
During its recent hot streak, the company somehow managed a combination of quantity and quality.



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Disney produced a large number of titles, most of whom excelled at the box office. But those days are over now.


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Disney is planning for the next thing, and that’s especially challenging right now.
Due to the unfortunate combination of production inflation and box office deflation, movies typically cost more while earning less.


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So, Disney’s next plans involve a smaller number of movies, each of which will face substantially more internal scrutiny.
Thankfully, Disney’s next three titles – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Inside Out 2, and Deadpool and Wolverine – all look phenomenal.


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Later in the year, Alien: Romulus comes with a bit more mystery, and I’m excluding April’s The First Omen because it’s barely even Disney.
Then, we have two films with cause for optimism in Moana 2 and Mufasa, which I still expect to do well compared to other live-action films released since 2020.


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Disney’s challenge is unlocking the next big thing, just as it somehow managed with Marvel comic book adaptations and live-action remakes.
Yes, I’m Calling for More Sequels
My hope is that Disney takes a deeper look at its brands and identifies what fans love.
We want to visit our old friends in new settings and with new stories.


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Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine are showing the path in that both sequels aren’t necessary in isolation.
However, like The Incredibles 2, they’ve both unlocked fertile, intriguing new ideas and approaches to the same beloved characters.
I don’t want Lilo & Stitch as a live-action remake. As a diehard fan of the original, I want Lilo & Stitch 2.
I’m optimistic that Zootopia 2, Moana 2, Frozen 2/3, and Inside Out 2 will shine a light on the financial and storytelling opportunities for this approach.


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With the era of live-action remakes coming to an end, it’s time for Disney to lean hard into sequels.
I believe Iger knows this, but he isn’t ready to admit it due to the inevitable PR hit.


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