Disney used D23 to put Zootopia 3 on the board, with Jared Bush saying the new film is in the works. The announcement extends a franchise that has already cleared the billion-dollar mark and gives fans of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde another installment to track.
Judy Hopps Returns
Jared Bush said the film will bring back fan-favorite characters, and Ginnifer Goodwin and Ke Huy Quan were on hand when the project was announced on Friday. Goodwin made the moment plain: “The bunny and the snake will be back!”
That matters because Goodwin’s Judy Hopps and Jason Bateman’s Nick Wilde are the franchise’s core pairing, and Disney is not treating this as a one-off extension. In November 2025, Goodwin told The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m putting everything out there trying to manifest a number three, after a much shorter break. All we’ve got to do is get everyone in the world to go see the movie, it’s not a lot to ask.”
Zootopia 2 Momentum
Zootopia 2 became the biggest Hollywood animated film of all time last year and reached $1.87 billion at the worldwide box office. The original Zootopia, released in 2016, grossed over $1 billion worldwide, so the franchise has already shown it can turn one concept into repeat business at a massive scale.
Jared Bush also said the team has “only seen one city on one continent on one planet,” while adding, “There’s quite a lot more stories to tell.” He called it “the most fun place in the world,” and that framing points to why Disney is pushing forward: the world is still narrow enough to expand, but established enough to support another release.
Bird Storyline Ahead
Bush said Zootopia 3 will introduce a bird-centered storyline, which gives the next film a different organizing idea without dropping the characters audiences already know. For now, the useful takeaway is simple: Disney has moved the franchise from sequel success to a third chapter, but it has not laid out a release date or production schedule.
