Disney & Pixar’s Upcoming Films

(Written for Filmoria)

Hey Disney fans! Want to know what Disney films are set to be released over the next few years? Well, thanks to Disney’s D23 Expo fan convention, we have a mass selection of new posters and logos for all of the films that they currently have in the works.

From live action dramas including Alice Through the Looking Glass and Pirates of the Caribbean 5, superhero actions including Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange, Star Wars sequels to animated delights such as The Good Dinosaur, it looks like they’ve got something for everyone.

Following are the new logos, with as much info as we have on these films at the minute, in release date order.

Firstly, here’s a quick overview:
1. The Good Dinosaur (25th November, 2015)
2. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (18th December, 2015)
3. The Finest Hours (29th January, 2016)
4. Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War (29th April, 2016)
5. Zootopia (25th March, 2016)
6. Alice Through The Looking Glass (27th May,< 2016)
7. Finding Dory (29th July 2016)
8. Pete’s Dragon (12th August, 2016)
9. Marvel’s Doctor Strange (28th October, 2016)
10. Moana (2nd December, 2016)
11. Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One (16th December, 2016)
12. Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 (7th July, 2017)
13. Coco (TBD)
14. Gigantic (TBD)
15. The Incredibles 2 (TBD)
16. Toy Story 4 (TBD)
17. Cars 3 (TBD)

The Good Dinosaur

Release date: 25th November, 2015

Directed by Peter Sohn, The Good Dinosaur is Pixar’s sixteenth feature film and will be the studio’s second release this year after Inside Out.

In an alternate timeline where Earth was never hit by an asteroid and dinosaurs never became extinct, the film’s plot is: “An epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend.”

The film stars the voices of Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Marcus Scribner, Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, A.J. Buckley, and Steve Zahn.

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

Release date: 18th December, 2015

Written and directed by J.J. Abrams, the film is a continuation of the saga created by George Lucas and is set thirty years after Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983).

The cast includes John Boyega as Finn, Daisy Ridley as Rey, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, Kenny Baker as R2-D2, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, and Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma.

The Finest Hours

Release date: 29th January, 2016

Directed by Craig Gillespie, The Finest Hours is a disaster film based on the true story of the Pendleton rescue mission attempt in 1952 by Coast Guard ships, wherein two oil tankers were split asunder by a nor’easter.

Based in turn on the 2009 eponymous book by Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias, the screenplay is written by Scott Silver, Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy.

Chris Pine leads as Boatswains Mate First Class Bernard Webber, and the film also stars Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Josh Stewart, Graham McTavish, Rachel Brosnahan, Kyle Gallner, John Ortiz, Eric Bana, and Holliday Grainger.

Captain America: Civil War

Release date: 29th April, 2016

Marvel’s third Captain America film, and the follow-up to Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, sees an incident which leads to the Avengers developing a schism over how to deal with situations, which escalates into an open fight between allies Iron Man and Captain America.

Chris Evans leads the film as Captain America, with the film also including a recurring Avengers cast with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, Don Cheadle as James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon, and Paul Bettany as Vision.

Paul Rudd also joins the Avengers for the first time after having his first outing as Scott Lang / Ant-Man earlier this year, and the film will also see Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, and Martin Freeman in a currently unclassified role.

Zootopia

Release date: 25th March, 2016

The 55th film in Disney’s animated features canon, Zootopia is directed by Byron Howard, who previously co-directed Bolt and Tangled.

“In the animal city of Zootopia, a fast-talking fox who’s trying to make it big goes on the run when he’s framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Zootopia’s top cop, a self-righteous rabbit, is hot on his tail, but when both become targets of a conspiracy, they’re forced to team up and discover even natural enemies can become best friends.”

The casting includes the voices of Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde, Ginnifer Goodwin as Lieutenant Judy Hopps, Shakira as Gazelle, Alan Tudyk, and Katie Lowes.

Alice Through The Looking Glass

Release date: 27th May, 2016

Directed by James Bobin and written by Linda Woolverton – and produced by Tim Burton who directed the previous film – Alice Through The Looking Glass sequel to the 2010 film, Alice in Wonderland.

The film stars Mia Wasikowska as Alice Kingsleigh, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Sacha Baron Cohen as Time, Thys Ifans as the Mad Hatter’s father, and Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and has a voice cast including Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Toby Jones as Wilkins, Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar, Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit, Timothy Spall as the Bloodhound, and Barbara Windsor as the Dormouse.

Finding Dory

Release date: 29th July 2016

Sequel to the 2003 Pixar film Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton, who directed the original film, will return as writer and director, alongside Angus MacLane as the co-director.

“The friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish reunites with her loved ones, and everyone learns a few things about the true meaning of family along the way.”

It has also been confirmed that characters from the first film will appear in the sequel, including Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), Nemo (Hayden Rolence), Marlin (Albert Brooks), and the “Tank Gang”, with voicing also from Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Idris Elba, Willem Dafoe, Ty Burrell and Dominic West.

Pete’s Dragon

Release date: 12th August, 2016

Directed by David Lowery, Pete’s Dragon is based on a short story by S.S. Field and Seton I. Miller and is also a remake of 1977 film of the same name.

“A young orphan seeks refuge from his abusive adoptive parents with the help of a pet dragon and a couple who live in a lighthouse.”

Oakes Fegley as Pete, Oona Laurence as Natalie, Bryce Dallas Howard as Grace, Robert Redford as Grace’s Dad, Wes Bentley as Jack, and Karl Urban as Gavin.

Doctor Strange

Release date: 28th October, 2016

The fourteenth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the second instalment of Phase Three, Doctor Strange stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role and is directed by Scott Derrickson.

The plot we have so far is: “After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under his wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.”

The film also stars Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One and is rumoured to star Rachel McAdams, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo.

Moana

Release date: 2nd December, 2016

Directed and written by Ron Clements and John Musker, Moana will follow the journey of a spirited teenager named Moana as she sails the Pacific Ocean to complete her “ancestor’s quest”. The film will also star the voices of Dwayne Johnson as Maui, and Alan Tudyk.

“A young woman uses her navigational talents to set sail for a fabled island. Joining her on the adventure is her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui.”

Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One

Release date: 16th December, 2016

Directed by Gareth Edwards, is intended to be the first film in the Star Wars Anthology Series, a collection of stand-alone stories.

“Rebels set out on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star.”

The cast includes Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk,
Riz Ahmed, and Jonathan Aris as Senator Jebel.

Pirates Of The Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Release date: 7th July, 2017

The fifth instalment in the Pirates franchise, directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, the film will follow Captain Jack Sparrow as he searches for the trident of Poseidon.

The film will star Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Javier Bardem as the film’s villain, Captain Salazar, as well as Brenton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario.

Coco

Release date: TBD

Previously known as The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dia De Los Muertos, Coco follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who sets off a chain of events relating to a century-old mystery.

Directed by Lee Unkrich, the premise of the story apparently comes from a simple question: “What if you could meet your long-dead family members?”, and the official story description is: “Coco is the celebration of a lifetime, where the discovery of a generations-old mystery leads to a most extraordinary and surprising family reunion.”

Gigantic

 

Release date: TBD

Another Jack And The Beanstalk adaptation, although this will be the “definitive” version of the story, apparently, and will include songs written by Oscar-winning Frozen songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

The image adds to the list of upcoming films from Pixar with posters for The Good Dinosaur, The Incredibles 2, Finding Dory, Toy Story 4, and Cars 3.

For the films that we have not mentioned above, here are some additional details for these films:

The Incredibles 2

Release date: 2016

Written and directed by Brad Bird, the plot is currently unknown, but Bird has commented that the movie will not reflect trends in the superhero genre since the first film’s release, explaining, “I don’t think that kind of idea stays interesting for very long. … For me, the interesting thing was never the superhero part of it. It was more the family dynamic, and how do superhero things play into that.”

Toy Story 4

Release date: 14th July, 2017

Directed by John Lasseter and Josh Cooley, the plot is again unknown, but it has been hinted that Toy Story 4 will be a love story – possibly between Woody and Bo Peep.

Cars 3

Release date: TBD

Directed by John Lasseter, nothing is known about this sequel yet.