Disney gathered its creative divisions at D23 last week to lay the foundations for the next two years. Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossed $2 billion globally; Canada’s TIFF fully embraces the commercial side of the film industry with a lineup for its first-ever film financing market, while America’s AFM invites Silicon Valley into the world of cinema.
D23 Maps Disney’s Next Two Years
Disney’s ultimate fan expo, D23, returned two years after its 2024 edition with The Disney Entertainment Showcase as the centerpiece. The event kicked off on Friday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, where Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and Walt Disney Animation laid out information for movie releases through 2028.
Anne Hathaway opened by reassuring fans that Princess Diaries 3 is in active development, 25 years after its first installment. Tangled’s live-action adaptation is set for a March 31, 2028 release date, with Kathryn Hahn confirmed as Mother Gothel. Caitriona Balfe and Elliot Cowan will also join as Queen Ariana and King Frederic. Diego Luna was also confirmed to play a major original character after his casting was first announced in May.
Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter anchored his studio’s presentation with four upcoming projects. The first of these is Incredibles 3, set for a June 2028 release, with Brad Bird back to direct. Doctor shared that the Parr children would be at the centre of the story against a villain more dangerous than any the family has faced.
Coco 2 is set for a November 21, 2029 debut, featuring a teenage Coco and the return of Ernesto de la Cruz in the Land of the Dead. Exclusive videos from Gatto and Ghost Market, the two new original films in development, were screened for fans, with release schedules of March 2027 and March 2028, respectively.
Ice Age: Boiling Point debuted its first look ahead of a February 5, 2027 release. On the other hand, Frozen 3, dated November 24, 2027, showed Anna and Kristoff as a married couple alongside a new antagonist with abilities resembling Elsa’s. Zootopia 3 teased a story centred on the city’s bird population, with no scheduled release date.
Meanwhile, Shawn Levy joined the stage with Ryan Gosling to unveil the first footage from Star Wars: Starfighter. The duo confirmed Gosling will play a character named Kade Auberon.
Marvel’s Kevin Feige followed with X-Men casting confirmations that included Adam Driver as Mister Sinister, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Christopher Abbott as Professor X and Maya Boyd as Storm. A teaser for The Bluey Movie and trailers for films and series expected to drop this year were screened. The list included Percy Jackson Season 3, Ahsoka Season 2, VisionQuest, Avengers: Doomsday, and Hexed.
TIFF Prepares for the Inauguration of its Film Market
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has long been a platform for films that go on to earn major awards recognition.
The festival has taken a formal step into the business side of filmmaking with TIFF: The Market, its first international financing and project marketplace. The event will run from September 10 to 16 alongside the festival.
The organizers released a lineup that covers 51 projects last week, including 40 features, 6 series and 5 innovative or immersive works.
Highlights include an animated feature with Keke Palmer, Common and Regina Hall, a collaboration between Deepa Mehta and Jeremy Irons, and a drama headlined by Marlee Matlin and Jacob Tremblay. The market has an additional section that is powered by the Fantasia International Film Festival titled Frontieres.
Originally meant to showcase 5 five films, this section was expanded to seven films after receiving over 100 submissions. The combination of Fantasia’s Frontieres section and TIFF’s own program brings both markets to 58 projects in total.
Spider-Man and The Odyssey Boost New Post-Pandemic Records At The Summer Box Office
The 2026 summer box office is now running 23% more than 2023’s $4.1 billion total.
This year has left in the dust the fear of underperformance that has plagued summers since 2020 as multiple films have crossed the billion-dollar mark. Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossed the $2 billion mark this week, becoming the fastest film ever to reach $700 million domestically.
The record was set in 13 days, three days ahead of Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. A third consecutive weekend at number one, with $70 million, also pushed it past Avatar (2009) into fourth place on the all-time North American chart.
The Odyssey followed in second place with a $23.2 million draw-in at the weekend domestic box office. Its China debut across over 20,000 screens has added $36.6 million, pushing its global total to $1.29 billion and making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2026 worldwide.
In third place is new entry, The End of Oak Street, which opened to $21 million domestically and $26 million internationally for a $47 million global debut.
These performances, alongside others, pushed the summer box office total from last week’s $3.9 billion to $4.2 billion.
AFM Expands Into an AI and Tech Hub
The American Film Market announced a structural change last week. Its producer, the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA), added a 15,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor space called the AFM House to its campus. The space was built in collaboration with Cannes’ Marché du Film and Cine Group.
The AFM House has three components. The first and central is an Innovation Hub for AI startups, tech companies, and creators exploring generative tools. Cinemas Club speaker series focuses on the future of theatrical exhibition, marking the second component. The final is a dedicated networking space for tech companies, distributors and independent producers.
The development of AFM House aligns with the market’s theme for this year’s sale, “The New Global Screen Economy.” The 2026 edition runs from November 10 to 15, with the AFM House itself set for November 11 to 14 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
