Frozen is one of the most popular things that the Walt Disney Company has created in its 100 years of existence, so it wasn’t actually a shock when it became one of the few Walt Disney Animation Studios projects to get a full theatrical sequel. When that movie became an even bigger hit than the first, we were all but expecting the announcement that Frozen 3 was coming. But it appears the studio isn’t going to wait for Frozen 3 to be a hit, as Frozen 4 is already in development.
Hong Kong Disneyland is set to open the new World of Frozen in just a few days, and in anticipation of it, GMA spoke with Disney CEO Bob Iger from the theme park resort. During the conversation, Iger revealed that Jennifer Lee (who is the writer and director of the Frozen franchise and the head of Walt Disney Animation) is currently working on the story for not just Frozen 3, but also Frozen 4. Iger said…
Well, I'll give you a little surprise there Michael. Frozen 3 is in the works and there might be a Frozen 4 in the works, too. But, I don't have much to say about those films right now. But Jenn Lee who created Frozen, the original Frozen and Frozen 2, is hard at work with her team at Disney Animation on not one but actually two stories.
Iger does use the word “might” when referring to Frozen 4, so clearly the project is not a certainty. If Jennifer Lee can’t put together a story that Disney thinks is a winner, it probably won’t happen, but the fact that Iger announced the project publicly as an upcoming Disney movie certainly implies that he thinks the movie is likely. The fact that Jennifer Lee has been asked to work on it at all indicates that Disney is planning on more Frozen content.
That's not surprising. Frozen is a massive franchise and it’s only becoming more important to Disney. The World of Frozen that is about to open at Hong Kong Disneyland is one of two Frozen-themed lands, as Disneyland Paris is getting one as well. One has to believe that World of Frozen is also on the shortlist for potential projects for the planned Disneyland Resort expansion. There's already a lot of Frozen at Walt Disney World, though certainly there could be plans to add more.
Disney’s theme parks help promote their movies, and their movies help promote their theme parks. You need both to be running smoothly for the Disney “synergy machine”, as former CEO Bob Chapek once called it, to run at its most efficient.
But the fact that there are two Frozen movies is also potentially exciting for fans, not just because there will be more movies, but because those movies could be approached in a unique way. We’ve never seen an animated Disney movie that knew it was getting a sequel. How might Jennifer Lee and WDAS approach Frozen 3 differently because they know Frozen 4 is coming? Could we see a two-part story akin to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its upcoming sequel? That option is at least available now, and that’s certainly an exciting thing to think about.
