During the first theater shutdowns of the Covid pandemic, Universal made the decision to put out Trolls World Tour as a PVOD title and kick started the wave of Day and Date releases of the last 18 months. While the movie made $100 million, it was nowhere near the $350 million gross of the first Trolls outing but was more than enough, in the circumstances, for Universal to reveal that a third movie featuring the bright-haired characters is coming exclusively to cinemas on November 17th, 2023.

As this is the first time Trolls 3 has been mentioned, there is no word yet on whether director Walt Dohrn will be back nor which of the cast members will also be returning to voice the Trolls in the threequel. However, there is a good sign that Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake and the rest of the main cast will come back for this latest film as this Friday sees the release of Trolls Holiday in Harmony on NBC, which sees the Trolls World Tour stars back for a holiday special.

The logline for the special reads: “As the holidays near, Queen Poppy plans the First Annual Trolls Kingdom Secret Holiday Gift Swap. But things take an unexpected turn when she and Branch draw each other’s name. Meanwhile Tiny Diamond comes down with a bad case of writers’ block, trying to think of a special holiday rap for his dad.”

Trolls was released in 2016, based on the Good Luck Trolls dolls that everyone believes was new to their generation when they have actually been around since 1959. The film brought the happy little gonks to life in brilliantly vibrant CGI and was an instant hit, with Justin Timberlake even picking up an Oscar for the song Can’t Stop The Feeling. The sequel, Trolls World Tour, was all geared up to be another cinema mega-hit when the Covid pandemic ironically prevented it becoming the world wide hit it planned to be. Opening in only a handful of theaters, the decision to put out the film on PVOD channels simultaneously caused a huge rift between Universal and AMC Theater group. Initially, AMC responded to the move by announcing they would no longer distribute Universal’s movies, but they later resolved the issue once both sides came to a new contract agreement.

Both movies were reasonably well received by critics, landing 76% and 71% approval ratings respectively. The general consensus on both film was that while they were not going to take any awards for being exceptional feats of movie making, Trolls and its sequel were bright, positive and joyous movies that would be loved by kids and aimed to bring a little happiness into the lives of the families who sat down to watch them together. It is sometimes all you need, and at the time Trolls World Tour was released was a very welcome distraction from world events.

From the original Trolls movie, the franchise has branched out in numerous directions, including a TV series, online content, video games, toys, live shows and theme park attractions at Universal Studios Parks, and it doesn’t look like Universal are about to let go of the IP just yet. This news comes to us from Deadline.