Pixar Plans To Release One Original Film Every Year

The folks at Pixar want to release an original movie every single year going forward. The studio will also release some sort of sequel every other year.

Although Pixar enjoyed quite a bit of success at the box office with Monsters University, the studio is apparently cutting back on the number of sequels it plans to release.

During a chat with Buzzfeed, Pixar Animation Studios President Ed Catmull said the studio will begin cutting back on the number of follow-ups they put into production. Catmull added that delivering an original picture every year was very important on an artistic level.

“Every once in a while, we get a film where we want or people want to see something continuing in that world — which is the rationale behind the sequel. They want those characters, which means we were successful with them. But if you keep doing that, then you aren’t doing original films,” he said.

The studio’s “rough idea” is to release a brand new feature every year. A sequel of some sort will hit theaters every other year. Given the popularity of its sequels — Toy Story 3 previously held the June record for the biggest opening weekend ever — it’s a good idea for Pixar to craft sequels for some of their more popular endeavors.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the next project coming together at the studio is first-time director Bob Peterson’s The Good Dinosaur. Although he helped Pete Docter out with the tear-jerking 2009 feature Up, the upcoming adventure will mark the first movie he helmed on his own.

There aren’t too many details about Peterson’s project currently floating around at the moment. However, the official Pixar website claims the story will take place in an alternate version of Earth where the dinosaurs never died out. The movie is set for release in May of 2014.

Are you a fan of Pixar? What do you think about the studio releasing a new film every year and a sequel every other year?