“Monsters, Inc. 3” in the works at Pixar, studio reveals planned release dates for “Incredibles 3” and “Coco 2”

Key points

• A third Monsters, Inc. film is in development at Pixar, reports The Wall Street Journal.

• The studio is also developing a new musical from Turning Red director Domee Shi as well as a project called Ono Ghost Market.

• It also revealed planned release dates for Incredibles 3 and Coco 2.

Mike and Sully are headed back to work — again.

Pixar is developing a third Monsters, Inc. movie, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The studio is also working on a pair of previously unannounced original films. One of the projects, Ono Ghost Market, which was originally developed as a streaming series before being retooled as a feature film, will draw inspiration from Asian myths about supernatural marketplaces.

The other new project will be Pixar’s first-ever musical, with filmmaker Domee Shi at the helm. Shi previously directed Turning Red and took over the co-directorial reins of Elio after original director Adrian Molina departed the project.

WSJ also reported that the previously announced Incredibles 3 is expected to hit theaters in 2028. Additionally, it’s aiming to release its first sequel to 2017’s Coco in 2029.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Pixar’s parent company, Disney, for more information.

Monsters, Inc. is among Pixar’s most beloved films. Released in 2001, the movie followed monsters James “Sully” Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) as they struggled to return a young human girl nicknamed “Boo” back to the human world.

The film made $579 million on a reported $115 million budget, and was nominated for the first-ever Oscar for Best Animated Feature, losing the award to Shrek. The movie did win the Oscar for Best Original Song for Randy Newman’s “If I Didn’t Have You,” and also received nominations for Best Original Score and Best Sound Editing.

Monsters is one of the studio’s widest-reaching franchises to date. The film spawned a prequel, Monsters University, in 2013, which saw Mike and Sully meet for the first time in college. That movie was an even bigger hit than its predecessor, earning $743 million on a reported $200 million budget.

The studio did not divulge when the third Monsters movie will take place in the franchise’s timeline.

Monsters, Inc. has yet to receive a theatrical sequel (University was a prequel), though the franchise recently continued with the TV series Monsters at Work, which premiered its first season on Disney+ in 2021. The second season aired on Disney Channel in 2024. The show saw Goodman and Crystal reprise their roles, and also introduced Ben Feldman as a new character, Tylor Tuskmon.

A decade ago, Monsters, Inc. director Pete Docter, who is now the CEO of Pixar, offered EW his thoughts on a potential third film. “You never say never — who knows what will happen?” the filmmaker said. “We purposely went with a prequel for Monsters University because we didn’t want to answer some of the questions about what happens to Boo, and how does she grow up, and things like that. It would have to be really compelling, which is hopefully the benchmark for all of our sequels, anyway.”

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Monsters, Inc. has also held a significant presence in Disney’s theme parks, with attractions in Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, Calif., Magic Kingdom in Orlando; and Tokyo Disneyland. The company also recently announced that Monsters, Inc. will receive an entire land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, replacing the area surrounding Muppet*Vision 3D.

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