Disney is at their boiling point and ready to put a hex on you, as two major announcements just arrived out of Destination D23. One is that the sixth Ice Age movie has officially been given its full title of Ice Age: Boiling Point, while another is the unveiling of Hexed, which will arrive in November 2026.
Ice Age: Boiling Point is still a long ways away (it’s slated for February 5th, 2027), but is described as “a dinosaur-and-lava-filled madcap adventure that takes Manny, Sid, Diego, Ellie, Scrat and the rest of the herd to visit never-before-seen corners of the treacherous Lost World.” Considering the most recent Ice Age movie, Collision Course, was released back in 2016 and this will be the longest gap between movies, one does have to wonder if there will still be enough interest to get fans and families back to the movie theater for one more outing. Hopefully the fact that Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, and Simon Pegg are all returning will be a draw.
Releasing a few months earlier will be Hexed, set for November 25th of next year, lining up nicely for a Thanksgiving weekend outing. According to reports, Hexed “follows a teenager and his mom who discover his weirdness is actually hidden magic that transports them to a world where magic can run free.” This release date will find it sandwiched between this fall’s Zootopia 2 and 2027’s Frozen III. Disney has no doubt lost some magic but they’re still capable of delivering, so I’ll put some faith into Hexed, especially based on the concept art that was also unveiled. The odds of Hexed being in traditional 2D animation are low, but based on the art, it would absolutely dazzle.
Directing Hexed will be Josie Trinidad and Jason Hand. While Hand co-directed Moana 2, this will be the debut of Trinidad in such capacity. But she has shown her chops, having been employed by Disney for over two decades at this point. Previous credits include serving as artist on works like The Princess and the Frog, Tangled and Zootopia, where she also broke through in the story department.
What do you think of these two forthcoming animated films? Will Ice Age 6 regain its audience? How do you feel about the concept art for Hexed?