The latest installment of the Toy Story franchise is now in theaters, but Lightyear is certainly not your typical Toy Story movie. While there is a Buzz Lightyear that serves as a main character, it's not the Buzz that fans know and love as played by Tim Allen in the past four movies. This movie features Chris Evans voicing a version of Buzz Lightyear from a fictional movie that would inspire the toy line that young Andy becomes a big fan of.
It's an interesting approach to the series, for better or for worse. There is a post-credit sequence that does tease a possible continuation of the story, but as of now, no sequels are officially in the works. Director and co-writer Angus MacLane had put in that post-credit scene to intentionally tease what happens next, and in a new interview with A.frame, he says he's excited about where the plot could next be taken. With that said, he isn't completely sure that another movie will definitely happen, but he has some ideas in mind.
"I think there are more stories to be told, whether or not we will pursue them is unclear. It's a movie I've always wanted to see. So, naturally, I was going to take the time to figure out what happens next. If nothing else, so that I knew. So, I'm excited about where it goes. Whether or not I'll share that remains to be seen."
When the interviewer suggested that Sox the cat could have his own series on Disney+, Macane added:
"Well, I'm pleased that Sox has resonated externally as well as he has internally [at Pixar]. I'd often wonder what he was doing to keep his mind limber while Buzz was away. Maybe there's something to that."
Lightyear 2 Might Not Happen After Part One Underperformed
If Angus MacLane wants to continue the Lightyear story, what exactly is holding it up? This would probably be the animated feature underperforming at the box office. Initially, the film was project to gross more than $100 million with its opening weekend, but the film ultimately debuted with just over $50 million. While that's still a respectable number, it's well below what had been expected from Disney. The film plummeted by 65% in its second weekend with $17.7 million earned, a pretty drastic drop, especially for a Pixar movie. The film cost around $200 million to produce.
Different reasons may have contributed to Lightyear coming up short in theaters. It does come at a time when it must compete with uber-popular movies like Jurassic World Dominion and Top Gun: Maverick. Many Disney fans might have also gotten spoiled by previous animated features like Turning Red and Luca coming to Disney+. It could also be speculated that a lot of longtime Toy Story fans declined to see Lightyear as they were unable to accept Chris Evans taking over the role of Buzz Lightyear, even if this character is not technically the same Buzz.
In any case, Lightyear getting a sequel doesn't seem to be the most likely future for the film, but time will tell. Lightyear is now playing in theaters.