3 Huge Animated Movie Sequels That Won’t Release Until 2029 (Including KPop Demon Hunters 2)

2026 is already a massive year for animation. Pixar launched its year with Hoppers, an original story about a teenage animal lover who transfers her consciousness into a robotic beaver, which opened to $45.3 million domestically. Then, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie arrived in April and became the highest-grossing film of 2026 so far with nearly $967 million worldwide. On the streaming side, the first major Netflix original animated release of the year was Swapped, a Skydance Animation production led by Michael B. Jordan and Juno Temple, which arrived on May 1 and quickly accumulated tens of millions of views, breaking some of the KPop Demon Hunters records. The year is far from over, as Pixar will release Toy Story 5, Illumination will try to top The Mario Galaxy Movie with Minions & Monsters, Laika returns with the stop-motion fantasy Wildwood, and Walt Disney Animation Studios caps the year with the original fantasy Hexed.

The pipeline will not slow in 2027. Sony Pictures Animation has locked Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse for June 18, giving the trilogy its concluding chapter. DreamWorks will follow two weeks later with Shrek 5 on June 30, a sequel that promises to reignite the passion for one of the best animated franchises ever. In 2027, animation fans will also watch Frozen III and The Simpsons Movie 2, both expected to haul in massive box offices. Yet, some of the most anticipated animated movie sequels won’t be available until 2029.

3) The Super Mario Bros. Movie 3

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie earned $967 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing video game movie of all time, behind only the original 2023 film’s $1.36 billion. That means a trilogy is inevitable. Keegan-Michael Key, the voice of Toad, confirmed during the digital release campaign for the second film that a third entry was in development and that the directors, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, were targeting 2029. While no official date has been set by Nintendo and Illumination, the three-year gap is plausible, given that’s exactly the timeframe separating the first two movies.

2) KPop Demon Hunters 2

The first KPop Demon Hunters became a cultural event on Netflix almost immediately after its 2025 premiere. The Sony Pictures Animation production follows the fictional girl group Huntr/X as they battle demons that manifest as a rival boy band, and its combination of original K-pop tracks and kinetic action choreography pushed it past every other film on the platform’s all-time viewership chart. A sequel was formally announced in March 2026, when directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans signed a multi-year creative partnership with Netflix and confirmed that KPop Demon Hunters 2 would be the first project under that deal. Kang has promised a “bigger, bolder” film, and the 2029 target window reflects the complex animation process used in the first movie.

1) Coco 2

Coco became a critical and commercial success in 2017, winning two Academy Awards while grossing over $800 million at the global box office and becoming a defining piece of Latin American representation in mainstream animation. In March 2025, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed during the annual shareholder meeting that Coco 2 was officially in development, with Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina returning to direct. Pixar has secured a November 21, 2029, release date, a window that aligns with Día de los Muertos and mirrors the original film’s holiday positioning. Furthermore, every Pixar sequel released in recent years — Inside Out 2, Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2 — has surpassed the billion-dollar milestone, which means the studio is effectively sitting on one of the safest bets in animation and taking its time doing it right. 

Which 2029 animated sequel are you most excited to see? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum! 

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