Hollywood is often accused of making nothing but remakes and sequels, and Disney is among the biggest offenders. The studio's slate is defined by live-action remakes of their animated classics, sequels to Marvel and Star Wars films, and even, as with Freakier Friday, legacy sequels to remakes of prior Disney movies. Even Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, divisions of the company once known for original films, have been bitten by the sequel bug with Zootopia 2 set to be followed by Frozen 3 and Pixar readying Toy Story 5, Incredibles 3, and Coco 2. Despite titles like Elio, Disney doesn't seem invested in original ideas anymore.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has pushed back on that idea, however. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he pointed out that they're releasing original films from both the 20th Century Pictures and Searchlight Pictures brands, but also that Disney itself is focused less on remakes, sequels, or originals in broad strokes, and more on which ideas can or will connect with audiences. Sometimes that means original titles, other times means reimaging classic stories, continuing sagas, or rebooting Marvel superheroes. Iger said:
"We continue to be focused on creating new IP. Obviously, that's of great value to us long term, but we also know that the popularity of our older IP remains significant. I wouldn't say that we've got a priority one way or the other. Our priority is to put out great movies that ultimately resonate with consumers, and the more we can find and develop original property, the better.
You could even argue that Marvel continues to mine its library of characters for original property, even though, for instance, there have been Fantastic Four movies before we kind of consider the one that we did an original property in many respects, because we're introducing those characters to people who are not familiar with them at all."
Disney's Upcoming Slate of Releases
The rest of Disney's 2025 slate is certainly dominated by sequels and remakes. Freakier Friday opens August 8, followed by Tron: Ares and then Zootopia 2. Meanwhile, 20th Century Studios has the Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere in October. That will be followed by Predator: Badlands, their second Predator release this year after Hulu's Predator: Killer of Killers, and then Avatar: Fire and Ash as the big holiday release. Even Searchlight Pictures has The Roses, a remake of War of the Roses. The two original films left from Disney in 2025 are Searchlight Pictures' Rental Family and 20th Century Studios' Ella McCay.
While it's debatable whether Marvel films are "original," part of what made Marvel Comics so alluring to Disney in 2009 was the company's rich library of characters that could be adapted for blockbuster films. Characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Shang-Chi were largely unknown to most mainstream audiences, but now they're the stars of blockbuster films, theme park attractions, and merchandise opportunities.
Disney hasn't entirely given up on original ideas. Pixar Animation is a safe space for riskier concepts like the upcoming film Hoppers or the 2027 animated film Gatto. It does seem like the studio's ongoing effort to chase the biggest box office numbers has led them to not only scale down the number of movies they release, but also place far safer bets. Yet the investment in bigger movies isn't entirely paying off, and they may need to start thinking of new strategies.