In a surprise announcement, Disney reveals that Coco 2 is in development. The original Pixar movie, which debuted in 2017, followed an aspiring musician named Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) traveling to the land of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ amid a conflict with his music-hating family. Coco reviews were glowing, earning it a Certified Fresh score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie also went on to win two Oscars, for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Remember Me”). It was also a hit, grossing $814.3 million worldwide against its roughly $200 million budget.

During the annual Disney shareholders meeting, CEO Bob Iger confirmed Coco 2 is in the works and will hit theaters in 2029. The original creative team, comprised of director Lee Unkrich and co-director Adrian Molina, will return. Iger said during the meeting:

While the film is just in the initial stages, we know it will be full of humor, heart and adventure. And we can’t wait to share more soon.

The news was also shared on the official Pixar X account. On top of featuring the general announcement and the debut year, their post reveals a logo for the movie. See the post below:

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What This Means For Coco

The Directors’ Return Is A Refreshing Move For Pixar

The return of the original Coco directors is something of a rarity for modern Pixar movies. While the company has a habit of working consistently with various writers and directors, recent sequels and spinoffs have been helmed by new directors, such as Kelsey Mann taking over for Pete Docter on Inside Out 2 and Angus MacLane stepping into the Toy Story franchise for the first time with Lightyear. In fact, the most recent sequel to have been helmed by the original director was 2018’s Incredibles 2, which featured the return of Brad Bird.

This surprise update also confirms that Adrian Molina will continue working with Pixar after the upcoming Elio saw a creative overhaul that resulted in him being joined by co-directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi. Additionally, it will mark Lee Unkrich’s first directorial project with the company in eight years, since Coco ended a run of movies that included him helming Toy Story 3 and co-directing Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., and Toy Story 2.

Our Take On The Coco 2 Announcement

The Sequel Could Be Well-Timed

Ultimately, it makes sense why Pixar would pursue making Coco 2 after all this time. Although the early 2020s saw the company produce a string of original movies including Onward, Turning Red, Soul, and Luca, their 2024 sequel Inside Out 2, which arrived nine years after the previous installment, became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time before it was surpᴀssed by 2025’s Ne Zha 2. Considering the success of the belated sequel, it makes sense that they would explore another, alongside upcoming installments in longer-running franchises including Toy Story 5 and Incredibles 3.

Source: Disney/Pixar