Frozen 3 Now Has A Lot Of Pressure After Disney's Franchise Lost The Crown It Held For 5 Years

Summary Inside Out 2 breaks box office records, surpassing Frozen 2 to become highest-grossing animated film ever.

With a total of $2.36 billion, Inside Out franchise beats Frozen's $2.76 billion, setting high expectations for Frozen 3.

Frozen 3 expected to exceed $2 billion worldwide, aiming to become highest-grossing animated film ever.

The pressure's on for Frozen 3 now after Inside Out 2's record-breaking success. Inside Out 2 became the highest-grossing animated movie ever made in late July 2024, beating out Frozen II's previous record of $1.45 billion. Inside Out 2's impressive box office run has shown no signs of slowing down heading into August, recently rising above a worldwide total of $1.5 billion and climbing. As of the time of writing Inside Out 2 is the twelfth highest-grossing movie ever made and could very well crack into the top 10 before it leaves theaters, which would push out 2012's The Avengers.

Even though Inside Out 2 was not as critically acclaimed as the 2015 original, it soared past Inside Out's worldwide box office total of $859 million. The Inside Out franchise has collectively made a total of $2.36 billion while The two Frozen films have combined to make a worldwide box office total of roughly $2.76 billion. Now that Frozen 2 has been dethroned from its highest-grossing animated film status, Frozen 3 is expected to have a major box-office response and could very well set its sights on becoming the first animated film to crack $2 billion worldwide.

Related This Inside Out 2 Disappointment Makes Me Concerned About Elsa's Story In Frozen 3 One disappointing choice with Pixar's movie Inside Out 2 makes me concerned about how Disney will choose to handle Elsa's story in Frozen 3.

Frozen II Has Lost Its Place As The Highest-Grossing Animated Movie Of All Time

Inside Out 2 will hold the new $1.5 billion record indefinitely

After Universal's The Super Mario Bros. Movie gave Frozen 2 a run for its money last year, earning $1.361 billion at the 2023 box office, it ultimately could not top Frozen 2's chart-topping $1.45 billion. Technically speaking, 2019's live-action adaptation of The Lion King could be considered the highest-grossing animated film of all time with its whopping $1.66 billion worldwide total, but the film is categorized as live-action even though a vast majority of the film was made using CGI. Regardless, Inside Out 2 is now widely considered the highest-grossing animated film ever made and will hold the new record indefinitely.

Even though Inside Out 2 is the new chart-topper, two of the top four highest-grossing animated films are the two Frozen movies. This, by default, sets the box office bar extremely high for Frozen 3, which has a release date of November 25, 2026. In many ways, Frozen 3 is essentially expected to become the highest-grossing animated film ever made when it finally comes out in late 2026. Inside Out 2 should continue to hold its newfound top rank for the remainder of the year, although Moana 2 has the potential to become the 12th animated movie to ever make more than $1 billion worldwide.

Related If You Think Inside Out 2's Box Office Records Are Impressive, Just Wait Until Frozen 3 Inside Out 2 is performing phenomenally at the domestic and global box office, but trends indicate that Frozen 3 will blow it out of the water.

Frozen's Trend Means Frozen 3 Will Be Expected To Become The Biggest Animated Movie Ever

Shrek 5, Toy Story 5, and Super Mario Bros. 2 will certainly challenge Frozen 3 at the 2026 box office

With a combined worldwide box office total of roughly $2.76 billion, Frozen 3 will likely boost the Frozen franchise to become the third or fourth animated film franchise to break $4 billion. Despicable Me currently holds the record in the animated franchise category despite the relatively disappointing box office turnout for the recently released Despicable Me 4. The announcement of Shrek 5's July 2026 release date will certainly boost its worldwide franchise total of $4.02 billion significantly. 2026 will be a massive year for animated films, with Toy Story 5 set for a June 19, 2026 release date.

Frozen 3 has more modern box office momentum than Toy Story and Shrek, even though the latter two franchises have remained beloved for decades. Shrek 5, Toy Story 5 , and The Super Mario Bros. 2 are destined to be popular and will certainly challenge Frozen 3 at the 2026 worldwide box office. With that being said, Frozen 3's expectations are still sky-high and should look to avenge Frozen 2 being dethroned by Inside Out 2. Frozen 3 also has the advantage of a late 2026 release date, which could boost its box office due to the typical holiday surge to the movies.

Related Frozen 3's Best Theory Can Fix A Decades-Long Running Joke About Disney Animated Movies According to a Frozen 3 theory, the threequel could rectify a long-standing and often joked about trope found in many of Disney 's animated movies.

Could Frozen 3 Really Beat Inside Out 2's Box Office?

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Judging purely on the track record and the box office numbers of the previous two Frozen films, Frozen 3 certainly has the capability and an expectation to become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. A franchise with two of the four highest-grossing animated movies ever made is certainly formidable, which is why Frozen 3 is the clear frontrunner for anticipated animated films at the 2026 box office. It will likely be thwarted by the recently announced Avengers: Doomsday from taking the number 1 spot of the year like Inside Out is poised to do and will be challenged by the expected 2026 release of Super Mario Bros. 2. Still, Frozen 3 is guaranteed to put up some big and potentially record-breaking numbers.

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