By Dawn Chmielewski, Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway
ANAHEIM, California (Reuters) -Walt Disney, which reclaimed the top of the summer box office with Pixar animation’s “Inside Out 2” and Marvel’s raunchy “Deadpool & Wolverine,” showcased its coming slate of films in a three-hour spectacle featuring musical performances and celebrity appearances.
The stars of the forthcoming animated film “Moana 2” opened its D23 fan convention on Friday night. Stars Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravahlo took the stage, along with Hawaiian dancers. He told the 12,000 attendees that in reprising his role as Maui, he would once again be singing, “in keys that don’t exist.”
The film reaches theaters on Nov. 27.
“Who else but Disney could pull off a weekend like D23?” said Disney CEO Bob Iger, kicking off the Disney Entertainment Showcase. “Our deep bond with fans, forged over a century of storytelling, is stronger today than ever before.”
Director James Cameron appeared along with “Avatar” stars Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington to show off art from the next sequel, and announce its title, “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
Pixar’s chief creative officer, Pete Docter, announced a new “Inside Out” series based on main character Riley’s dreams, “Dream Productions,” that takes place between the first two movies and will premiere in 2025.
Docter also unveiled a new installment of one of Pixar’s biggest titles “The Incredibles,” which is centered o a quirky superhero family and is getting a third film that will be directed by Brad Bird.
A rendition of popular musical numbers from such Disney Broadway hits as “Frozen” and “Aladdin” accompanied the announcement that a slate of recorded live stage performances would be arriving on Disney+.
“We’re really happy to announce that the hit musical (Frozen), which was filmed on stage, will premiere on Disney plus in 2025,” said Jennifer Lee, Disney Animation’s chief creative officer.
Lee said the company is also developing a Broadway musical based on the film “The Greatest Showman.”
D23 shared an early look at the upcoming Disney+ series “Skeleton Crew,” which is a coming of age science fiction “Star Wars” series created by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford.
Director Jon Favreau offered a glimpse of “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” a big-screen adaptation of the Disney+ series due out in 2026.
Marvel reprised some of its greatest hits from last month’s San Diego Comic-Con convention. It showcased the “Captain America Brave New World” and “Fantastic Four” films, and the forthcoming Disney+ series, “Daredevil Born Again” and “IronHeart.”
It also dropped a trailer for its upcoming horror series “Agatha All Along,” based on the series “WandaVision” along with a haunting musical performance from the cast of witches in the series. The series includes original songs from the talent behind “Frozen” and “Coco.”
“Percy Jackson,” the series based on Greek mythology that follows its namesake protagonist demi-god, is returning for a second season called “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” adapted from author Rick Riordan’s book.
Walt Disney Studios showed off a teaser trailer for the live-action version of its animated classic, “Snow White,” accompanied by its stars Rachel Zeigler, who plays Disney’s original princess, and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
Actor Jeff Bridges appeared at D23 with co-stars Jared Leto and Greta Lee to promote “Tron: Ares,” the third installment of the futuristic film.
Perhaps the most enthusiastic crowd response was reserved for Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan, who are reprising their mother-daughter roles in a sequel to the 2003 film “Freaky Friday.”
A chorus performed “The Circle of Life” from “Lion King,” to promote the next installment in the Pride Lands saga, “Mufasa:The Lion King.” The coming film tells the story of Mufasa’s early life, in a lifelike computer-generated movie directed by Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins and with music from “Hamilton’s” Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The company touted the strength of its movies during an investor call this week, marking a return to form after losing its place as the highest-grossing Hollywood studio in 2023.
“It’s never too late to have that big Hollywood comeback,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “And they’ve certainly had that.”
“Inside Out 2” is the highest grossing animated film of all time, with a global box office tally of $1.6 billion, surpassing the record set by Disney’s “Frozen II.” A month later, “Deadpool & Wolverine” had the best domestic opening for an R-rated film and has brought in more than $850 million in global ticket sales.
“There is of course variability in the film business,” wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Kraft in a note to investors. “But if Disney has found its box office magic once again, additional growth may be ahead, as a strong theatrical slate continues.”
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski and Danielle Broadway in Anaheim, Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Josie Kao, Miral Fahmy and Shri Navaratnam)
