Pixar is shaking things up for Incredibles 3.
Peter Sohn (Elemental, The Good Dinosaur) will direct the third installment of the critically and commercially successful animated series.
Brad Bird wrote the screenplays for and directed the first two films in the franchise, which have earned a combined $1.8 billion at the box office. Bird is currently in the process of writing the screenplay for the threequel, which will be produced by Bird and Dana Murray (Oscar-winning Soul).
The franchise follows married couple Bob and Helen Parr (Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter) who live in the quiet suburbs with their three children after being forced to hide their superpowers by a new government mandate. Samuel L. Jackson and Sarah Vowell are part of the main cast.
The first Incredibles was released in 2004 and won the Academy Award for best animated film the following year. Incredibles 2 was released 14 years later, and earned $1.24 billion globally. Disney officially announced a third film at the D23 Expo event in August 2024, with Bird “developing” the new project, although no more information was given as to what capacity he would be involved. Bird’s schedule seems to be the reason as to why he is not directing the third film in the franchise, given he’s in pre-production on Skydance’s Ray Gunn, as well as 1906 for Disney.
Sohn and Bird have a long history of collaboration: Sohn has worked on every animated Bird film (including The Incredibles and Incredibles 2) up until this year’s Ray Gunn. Bird has been a mentor to Sohn, and Sohn was specifically chosen to carry The Incredibles torch by Bird and Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter. Sohn is a Pixar veteran, having also voiced characters in various movies for the studio, like Ratatouille, Monsters University and Lightyear. Elemental, Sohn’s second movie that he directed at Pixar, was nominated for the best animation feature Oscar last year.
Pixar is currently gearing up for the release of Elio on June 20. The film stars Yonas Kibreab, Zoe SaldaSaldañaa and Jameela Jamil, and was directed by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi.
