Are Disney and Pixar Setting up ‘Inside Out 3’?

Inside Out 2, the followup to 2015’s Inside Out, is out this weekend, bringing audiences on a heartwarming and highly emotional (literally) return to Riley’s (Kensington Tallman) “Headquarters.” But what are Disney and Pixar’s plans for the franchise moving forward, and will they include an Inside Out 3?

Inside Out 2 is now playing in theaters nationwide—and it’s safe to say that anticipation is at an all-time high. For one, the 2015 original was a hit with audiences, resonating with both adults and children (as does any good Pixar movie). The sequel also sees the addition of some exciting Hollywood A-listers to the main ensemble, including Emmy-winner Ayo Edebiri as Envy, Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui, and Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment.

Much of the original voice cast is returning for Inside Out 2, with Amy Poehler receiving top billing as Joy, the ever-optimistic leader of Riley’s emotional HQ. Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black will also reprise their roles as Sadness and Anger, respectively, with Tony Hale taking over the part of Fear from SNL alum Bill Hader and Liza Lapira stepping in for Mindy Kaling as Disgust. This time around, Tallman will voice a slightly older version of Riley as she faces her most daunting challenge yet: high school. With complicated new emotions, it seems like adjusting to teenagerhood isn’t exactly smooth sailing, if the latest trailer is anything to go by.

Although Inside Out 2 has just hit theaters, box office analysts are predicting that the sequel could be one of Pixar’s biggest hauls yet, forecasting that the film’s opening weekend will come in at anywhere between $80 to $115 million domestically. Cha-ching! During a May quarterly earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger added that the company will “lean on sequels” moving forward, meaning that expectations are high for Inside Out 2 to succeed. And yeah, given that the first film grossed $858.8 million, Disney and Pixar are probably wise to place all their eggs in one basket.

So, with Inside Out 2 expected to flourish both critically and commercially, what does the future of the beloved IP look like? Well, given that a new spinoff show titled Dream Productions is currently in the works at Disney+, it seems like both studios have some big plans for the Inside Out franchise … making the odds of a threequel happening all the more likely.

Are Disney and Pixar planning an Inside Out 3?

Understandably, there’s been a lot of chatter about future Inside Out installments in headlines recently. People clearly have a lot of love for the IP, and there’s no denying that there are plenty of opportunities for more Inside Out entries given just how little of Riley’s life we’ve actually seen. Amy Poehler herself even had some great ideas for future sequels, telling Empire last month, “I just think that they should make these films like Seven Up, every couple of years in Riley’s life. A young adult, and a young mother, and I think a middle-aged person—everyone’s having these very distinct new emotions that are showing up all the time.”

While this is an undeniably strong pitch, sadly, there’s been no word on if Inside Out 3 is officially happening … yet. It makes sense that Disney and Pixar would want to sit back and observe how well Inside Out 2 performs, in addition to directing focus toward the upcoming Disney+ spinoff series before green-lighting a third movie. Because of this, an Inside Out threequel being announced anytime soon seems pretty unlikely, though, as Poehler noted, fans should never say never, as there really are endless possibilities for Riley-centric spinoffs.

Until studio execs at Disney and Pixar come to a decision about the future of Inside Out, fans can look forward to catching Inside Out 2 in theaters when it premieres on June 14, 2024.