By Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter
Disney has changed release dates for two high-profile Pixar sequels.
The Incredibles 2 will now hit theaters on June 15, 2018, while Toy Story 4 will hit theaters on June 21, 2019. The two films are swapping dates thanks to an accelerated production schedule for Incredibles 2, Disney insiders say.
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Oscar-winning director Brad Bird is directing Incredibles 2, the follow-up to his hit 2004 film that grossed north of $633 million globally following its early November launch, including $70.4 million domestically, the second-biggest opening at the time for an animated title.
The mid-June corridor has always been a favorite landing place for Pixar movies. Toy Story 3 debuted on June 18, 2010, on its way to earning a record-breaking $1.067 billion at the global box office, becoming the first animated movie to join the billion-dollar club, not accounting for inflation. (Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen and Zootopia, along with Universal and Illumination’s Minions would later become club members as well).
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Pixar has been cautious when it comes to making sequels. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger announced The Incredibles 2 sequel a full decade after the first film played in theaters during a March 2014 shareholder meeting.
Watch ‘Finding Dory’ filmmakers discuss the ‘Pixar Rules’:
