Universal Pictures has just announced plans for the third installment in their popular Trolls movie series. A release of November 17, 2023, has been confirmed, although the title and synopsis of the movie have not yet been revealed.
‘TROLLS 3’ is set to release in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023.https://t.co/krEEG1Gbt1 pic.twitter.com/7VFFT250uT
— Cartoon Crave (@thecartooncrave) November 22, 2021
The upcoming Trolls 3 film is notably deviating from the pattern of its predecessor, Trolls World Tour, in ways most likely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Universal planned to release Trolls World Tour in March 2020, right before COVID-19 forced movie theaters around the globe to close and subsequently forced Universal to move the film to on-demand.
Despite this, however, the film was able to gross more than $100m on PVOD during the pandemic, and an additional $47 million at the international box office. Likely because the pandemic has died down somewhat, this upcoming film will be an exclusive theatrical release for about 17 days before being moved to PVOD.
The Trolls movie series started in 2016 with the release of the first film, Trolls, which starred Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden, Zooey Deschanel, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. It earned $350 million at the global box office, and even earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song with Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” The sequel saw many of these stars return, including Kendrick, Timberlake, and Corden, and additionally brought on stars like Rachel Bloom, Ron Funches, and Sam Rockwell.
The series has only expanded from then on, now including two spin-off children’s shows – Trolls: The Beat Goes On! on Netflix and TrollsTopia on both Hulu and Peacock – along with two-holiday specials in 2017’s Trolls Holiday and Trolls Holiday in Harmony. Trolls Holiday in Harmony is set to air on NBC on Friday, November 26, and both holiday specials see the stars of the movies, like Kendrick and Timberlake, reprising their roles, along with many other cast members from Trolls World Tour.
It is currently not known which stars will be returning for this upcoming Trolls 3 film.
