Summary

  • Pixar has struggled at the box office in recent years, with movies like Onward and Soul underperforming and being released on Disney+.
  • Incredibles 2 is Pixar's highest-grossing movie, making $1.242 billion worldwide, and there's potential for Incredibles 3 to beat Frozen 2's box office record.
  • Pixar hasn't capitalized enough on the success of the Incredibles franchise, despite its impressive earnings of $1.82 billion.

Once a bankable studio that could do no wrong, Lightyear was a total box office flop, and most recently, Elemental only just broke even following a disastrous opening weekend.

While Disney hasn't had a recent animated hit either, the studio set a new record for the highest-grossing animated movie of all time in 2019. Frozen 2 made $1.453 billion (via earned $1.362 billion worldwide too. While Pixar doesn't seem to be in the running, there's one sequel the studio could make that would undoubtedly dethrone Frozen 2.

A composite image of Anna, Else, and Kristoff standing in a realm of crystals in Frozen 2
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Pixar Could Beat Frozen's Box Office Record With Incredibles 3

Jack Jack in flames in The Incredibles 2

Even though the Toy Story series is Pixar's highest-grossing franchise, the highest-grossing Pixar movie is Incredibles 2. The 2018 animated sequel made $1.242 billion worldwide, which was a massive jump for Pixar at the time. The studio's highest-grossing movie up to that point was 2010's Toy Story 3 with a $1.06 billion gross. Incredibles 2's box office gross was a huge jump from the original movie too, as 2004's The Incredibles made $631 million worldwide. In that respect, Incredibles 3 could see another significant jump for the franchise, especially considering how positively received the sequel was.

However, Incredibles 3 wouldn't simply gross more because it follows the pattern, but the threequel will need to absolutely deliver on expectations. Incredibles 2 has a huge 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and that's partially thanks to featuring more Jack-Jack and not straying too far from the formula of the first movie. If Incredibles 3 doubles down on the Jack-Jack scenes once again, sees the return of Edna Mode, and delivers even more high-octane animated action, there's a good chance that the threequel would be a blockbuster audience pleaser that could outgross Frozen 2.

the-incredibles-2-ending-explained
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Pixar Hasn't Done Enough To Capitalize On Incredibles' Success

The Incredibles assembled on the street - Violet, Dash, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl in The Incredibles (2004).

Incredibles 3 still isn't confirmed, which comes as a shock given the series' success. Overall, the Incredibles franchise has made $1.82 billion, an incredible number given that it's made up of just two movies. In that respect, Pixar's lack of interest in capitalizing on the success of the series is confusing. Incredibles 2's timeframe proved that several sequels can be developed despite how much time has ed in real life. There's a small chance that Pixar could risk diluting the quality of the series by releasing more Incredibles movies, but Pixar's ability to beat Frozen 2's box office record could outweigh those concerns.

Sources: The Numbers, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes