Toy Story 4 to be the last Pixar sequel

Longtime producer Mark Nielsen has confirmed that Pixar is currently not working on any sequel aside from Toy Story 4. In recent years, the studio has been accused of prioritising building existing franchises over newer creative stories. Aside from a few original stories like Inside Out, Coco, and The Good Dinosaur, the studio has mainly been churning out sequels such as Monsters University, Finding Dory, Cars 3, Incredibles 2, and now, Toy Story 4. 

In an interview ahead of Toy Story 4's release, producer Mark Nielsen says that there’s "a lot of optimism about the future of the studio" since Pete Docter, the Oscar-winning director of Up and Inside Out, was named Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer. "He’s really looking out for the new voices and loading up the development pool. It’s all original films after this one right now."

While Pixar has recently announced Toy Story shorts and a Monsters, Inc. sequel series for Disney+, Disney's upcoming streaming service, story artist-turned-director Domee Shi, known for her Academy Award-winning animation short Bao, is currently working on an original feature for the studio. 

Directed by Josh Cooley, Toy Story 4, which has eight credited writers, is currently scheduled for release on June 21. Pixar's next film after this is Onward, written and directed by Dan Scanlan (Monsters University), which will be released on March 6, 2020.