One of Pixar's writing team let slip that work has already started on Inside Out 3.
Nearly a decade after the first movie, Inside Out returned to theaters in 2024 with the long-awaited sequel, Inside Out 2.
Despite earning slightly softer reviews than the first movie, Inside Out 2 would prove to be a massive win for Disney and Pixar, raking in nearly $1.7 billion at the global box office (something that would even delay its streaming release) and cementing the series' place as a tent pole franchise for the acclaimed animation studio.
Inside Out 3 Plans Detailed
In an exclusive conversation with The Direct's Russ Milheim at the 52nd annual Saturn Awards, Pixar writer Dave Holstein confirmed that Inside Out 3 is already in early development.
According to Holstein—who served as a writer on last year's Inside Out 2—brainstorming conversations about a potential threequel have already started to happen, adding that he has "no doubt that at some point a third [movie]" will get made:
- The Direct: "Have you guys had preliminary brainstorming talks about what a possible Inside Out 3 story could look like?"
Dave Holstein: "Yeah, minimal. I mean, I would say that we're still enjoying the the wave of fun, this second film. But I have no doubt that at some point a third, and hopefully, in my opinion, four through six, seven, eight, Inside Out should happen."
Addressing where that hypothetical third movie might go, Holstein said the franchise's main character, Riley, "[is] going to enter a different chapter of her life where the foundation does change," meaning there will be "new fodder to create something cool:"
Holstein: "In every new movie, you want the game to change, and every sequel, you want the game to change at its foundation. And what's great about having Riley be the engine of this franchise is that she's going to enter a different chapter of her life where the foundation does change. The things you want in life change, and who you are changes. Your sense of self changes. You know, it's a fascinating from a writer's perspective, you're given new fodder to create something cool."
No official announcement of a third movie has yet been made by Disney or Pixar, but, as insinuated by Holstein, there will be plenty of narrative meat on the bone to gnaw on as Riley continues to grow up.
Plus, this could be the chance to include anything from the last two movies that hit the cutting room floor—which there was plenty of from Inside Out 2 (read more about cut emotions from Inside Out 2 here).
Holstein mentioned two specific concepts that did not make it into the first movie as things he could see potentially popping up in an eventual follow-up. Two emotions, Schadenfreude and Lederhosen, were characters cut from Inside Out 2 that he and his writing partner, Meg LeFauve, hope come back in some form:
Holstein: "I'll speak for Meg, who wrote the film with me. Meg's favorite was schadenfreude, which was, you know, a German emotion, and Lederhosen, who just laughed when people got hurt and and conceptually, it worked really well, and they never made it in the final cut. It was very funny."
Despite not having the third movie on the docket as of yet, it would be a surprise not to see it happen, especially given the financial success of Inside Out 2.
Holstein commented on just how much the second movie has resonated with fans, saying he has loved seeing particularly older audiences embrace "the climax of the movie where Joy says, 'Maybe she doesn't exist as we get older.'"
He said he hopes that complicated feeling becomes "a story in the sequel" where audiences explore "what happens to Joy as she gets older:"
"I think the older audiences reacting to the climax of the movie where Joy says, 'Maybe she doesn't exist as we get older.' You know, that was surprising to me how much that resonated with a wider audience. And, you know, my hope was that there could be a story in the sequel that was about what happens to Joy as she gets older, you know. And because I'm asking that question a lot these days, so I'd like to, I'm just glad that that resonated with people."
How Likely Is Inside Out 3?
While people like Dave Holstein may be having cursory conversations about where a potential Inside Out 3 could go, that does not necessarily mean it is guaranteed to happen.
It took nearly a decade for Inside Out 2 to see the light of day, so who is to say the franchise will work quickly to get a third movie out to the world? Well, given how successful the last two films have been (specifically Inside Out 2), one can assume Disney will get the ball rolling on Inside Out 3 sooner rather than later.
One of the key things is finding that crux of a story that makes sense to explore in a full-fledged sequel. In 2024, Pixar CEO Pete Docter revealed that they would pursue a third movie in the franchise if they come across "something that feels like, 'oh, this is furthering the story:'"
"It’s imperative for us that we find something that feels like, 'Oh, this is furthering the story, it’s something that we didn’t explore in the first one, something deeper about the human condition or our own experiences in life.'"
That was very much the same case with Inside Out 2, where the team only wanted to do a second one if they could find a meaningful story that they deemed worthy of spending their time on (Inside Out 2's being the ups and downs of puberty).
Luckily for the franchise, there is no lack of directions to go. The last film saw the series' main character, Riley, dealing with the complications of early adolescence and all the new emotions that come as a part of that.
A logical place for a third movie to go would be centering on Riley as she either leaves High School or enters college for the first time, being such a treacherous time emotionally for young adults, as they start to ask, "Where do I fit in this complicated world?"
This feels rife for a potential Inside Out follow-up, focusing on Riley's emotions as she takes the next step in her life and quote/unquote grows up before audiences' eyes.
Inside Out 2 is now streaming on Disney+.
