Critical popcorn

D23 went big on the sequels this year, with the likes of Toy Story 5, The Incredibles 3, Mufasa: The Lion King, Freakier Friday, Frozen 3 and Moana 2 all featuring in their announcements but I’m going to focus on the latest news for a quartet of others that particularly perk my interest, and one of those I didn’t expect!

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I have to kick off with the absolutely glorious news that Zootropolis 2 is finally on the way to the public, if you’ve not seen Zootropolis, then I recommend it beyond anything. Really smart, funny and original animation with two great lead characters – oh, but in the UK – and some other European locations, it’s still called Zootopia, and thus Zootopia 2, and reportedly this all goes back to a Danish Zoo owning it – mad, yet brilliant.

Zootropolis 2 sees detective duo Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile ‘Gary’ who arrives in the city, and turns the mammal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new places, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.

As well as Goodwin and Bateman, the awesome Ke Huy Quan is the voice of Gary, and Fortune Feimster ventures into the world as a beaver named Nibbles… hmm! Jared Bush is directing and writing, I’m excited for November 2025!

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Next up on the list is Disney’s Snow White, another one of their live action re-imagining of the 1937 animated classic. Now, I’ll be honest and say I really don’t have any particular connection to the original, yes I know it and yes I completely appreciate it’s historic nature in film, but I was a kid who grew up in the realms of Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, and this teaser for the new Snow White actually looks pretty decent.

Coming in 2025, the film stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, who portray Snow White and her stepmother, the Evil Queen, respectively, and the teaser is above – the film also features original songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, it’s directed by Mike Webb, and also sees the CGI return of Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy – which seems a little odd in animated choice, but it’ll be interesting to see what’s changed.

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Skeleton Crew also looks fun, it’s like The Goonies in Space and set in the Star Wars world but clearly focusing for a younger audience, and let’s be grown ups here – Star Wars should be all about the fun adventures, it’s not always ‘for you’ you know…

In Lucasfilm’s Skeleton Crew, one of the older stars – Mr Jude Law -shared some insight on the series that’s told through the perspective of four kids who make a curious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy, crossing paths with the likes of Jod Na Nawood, a mysterious character that Law portrays.

The coming-of-age type-series stars Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Tunde Adebimpe, Kerry Condon and Nick Frost. And, very cool, the directors for this are Episodes of the original live-action series are directed by Jon Watts, David Lowery, the Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Jake Schreier, Bryce Dallas Howard and Lee Isaac Chung.

This one launches on Disney+ on 4 December!

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And then there’s TRON: Ares, and this is rooted in fun nostalgia for me – and after sharing an early look some time ago [right here], and stars Jeff Bridges, Greta Lee, Evan Peters and Jared Leto [who I guess will be a baddie again], but he was also at D23 alongside an iconic Lightcycle, and the cast shared character info, as well as closed-door early look.

It’s pretty crazy as well that Nine Inch Nails will cover the soundtrack – and after Daft Punk previously, this sounds like another excellent move. TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings…

That one is slated to hit cinemas late 2025 with Joachim Rønning directing.