Their friendship will last infinity and beyond. Woody and the gang are coming back together again for Disney's Toy Story 4, set to hit theaters June 16, 2017.
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced plans for the fourth installment of the popular animated movie series on Thursday during an earnings call, naming John Lasseter as the director.
"We love these characters so much; they are like family to us," Lasseter, who directed the first two "Toy Story" movies said in a statement. "We don't want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what's gone before. Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz's story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie."
The idea to have Woody and Buzz back together one more time was a joint collaboration between Lasseter, Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich, Up director Pete Docter, and Finding Nemo director Andrew Stantion. Stantion is also working on the sequel to our favorite fish movie called Finding Dory.
"When Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie— and I wanted to direct it myself," Lasseter added.
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack will lead the writing team because Lasseter wants the movie to have a "strong female voice."
Tom Hanks, who voices lead character Woody, once hinted at the possibility of one more film, but now the rumors are reality. Tim Allen, the voice of Buzz Lightyear, also said in 2010 he would do another film. This is great news for fans who have been wishing for one more adventure with the gang of their favorite toys.
The films of the Toy Story trilogy have grossed $1.94 billion worldwide. 2010's Toy Story 3 earned $1.1 billion worldwide and become the highest-grossing animated film off all time until Frozen was released. Toy Story 3 also won two Academy Awards.
