The Walt Disney Company has been no stranger to sequels and live-action remakes for many years now, with the plan for their feature film output proving to be a popular strategy. This plan persisted under Bob Iger’s time as the CEO of Disney, but today marks a new day for the company. On Thursday, Iger officially stepped down from his position and was succeeded by former Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro as the new Chief Executive Officer. Now, with D’Amaro officially in charge, the new CEO appears to be continuing the tradition of his predecessor, with news of more sequels officially confirmed by Disney.
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Straight from their 2026 annual shareholders meeting, The Walt Disney Company has confirmed release dates for two highly anticipated sequels that were already confirmed to be in the works. Disney has revealed that the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie will officially get a sequel in two years, with Lilo & Stitch 2 now scheduled to arrive on May 26, 2028, arriving three years after the initial reboot. Furthermore, Pixar Animation Studios has officially confirmed that Incredibles 3 will be coming to theaters on June 16, 2028. Disney previously held both of these dates with untitled films listed for release.
Disney Confirms Two Sequels for 2028, But Is It Too Late?
Lilo & Stitch 2 is a true no-brainer for Disney after the runaway success of the original film last summer. Despite forecasting for its box office being modest, the film proved to be one of the biggest hits for the entire year, grossing over $1 billion and becoming the highest-grossing Disney movie of the year (sitting behind only Avatar: Fire and Ash from Disney’s 20th Century Studios from the company). The arrival of the sequel will be three years after the first film’s debut but the question must be asked if it’s too late.
Striking while the iron is hot is the clear focus for Hollywood movie sequels. Even though three years is a pretty standard timeline for follow-ups in recent years, it’s possible that the love for Stitch in live-action could clearly fade by that time. Furthermore, the success of Lilo & Stitch in 2025 hinged on there being no competition around it in the summer, which may not be the case come the summer of 2028. On that note, the film arrives just three weeks before Incredibles 3.
That said, Incredibles 3 will be released in theaters ten years after the last film in the Pixar superhero series, which itself arrived 14 years after the first film. In that case, time proved to be no factor at all in diminishing the interest in a sequel, with the opposite happening. The first Incredibles movie made over $630 million back in 2004, but Incredibles 2 brought in double that, with a $1.2 billion gross in 2018. As a result, it seems likely that Incredibles 3 could have similar success in 2028 thanks to name recognition alone. There is one thing potentially working against the new Incredibles movie, though, as Brad Bird will not return to direct, with Peter Sohn (The Good Dinosaur, Elemental) set to helm the sequel instead.
It’s one of the great ironies of movies in the modern era that two sequels confirmed to arrive three weeks apart could very much succeed or fail for the same reasons: the time since the last movie. This was seen in Avatar: Fire and Ash, despite earning over $1.4 billon globally, the film debuted three years after the last entry and brought in over $900 million less. For now, Disney is planting their flags on these release dates over two years from now, which is a sign of their focus and priorities for the future as new leadership takes over.
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