Is Wreck-It Ralph Really Getting Another Movie Soon?

Is he gonna wreck it... again?

Lately, the rumor mill has been churning out little rumor nuggets which indicate that we haven't seen the last of Wreck-It Ralph, the star of his own eponymous 2012 feature and its 2018 sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet. In particular, rumor-mongering website We Got This Covered recently reported that its mysterious, ever-anonymous sources have confirmed that Disney has indeed put Wreck-It Ralph 3 into development. 

We here at Looper are huge fans of the first two flicks, and we'd love nothing more than for the lovable, digital lug voiced by John C. Reilly to come back for a return engagement. But, as we all know, that rumor mill can be notoriously unreliable — and considering that WGTC's sources appear to be straight-up confirming something that has yet to get a whiff of coverage outside of that site, we decided to take it upon ourselves to answer the burning question: is Wreck-It Ralph really getting another movie soon?

Well, the notion has one giant factor working in its favor: money. Wreck-It Ralph made a lot of it, raking in over $470 million dollars at the global box office, and Ralph Breaks the Internet made even more, finishing its worldwide theatrical run with a total of nearly $530 million dollars.

Both films were also well-received by critics and fans, and everybody and their brother would surely welcome a third installment. If WGTC's report is accurate, it's a done deal, the flick is in development right now as you're reading this, and it's only a matter of time before Ralph Breaks the Box Office hits the big screen. Awesome!

Or, perhaps not so awesome. We're highly skeptical of this report — not only because no other media outlets seem to have heard anything about it, but because the film's directors and star have pretty much shot the idea down.

First, let's hear from series directors Phil Johnston and Rich Moore, who were asked about the prospect of a three-quel in an interview with Comicbook.com late last year. According to them, the idea of making a third movie simply doesn't make any sense — not from a financial standpoint, but from a narrative one.

"I mean, I don't know [about following up Ralph Breaks the Internet], because I feel good about where [Ralph and his best buddy Vanellope are] at," Johnston explained. "I mean, you could envision like plot things where something gets screwed up and they have to reconnect to fix it. But in terms of it being a story of maturation for Ralph?" Not so much, the director seemed to imply with the open-ended question.

Johnston continued to say that he and Moore purposefully left their characters in a good place at the conclusion of Ralph Breaks the Internet, which might mean that a third movie would simply have nowhere to go. "The internet represents the sort of adult phase of their life," he said. "And I think Ralph at the end, has matured where he is comfortable in his skin and he will make friends, and he and Vanellope will still hang out. And Vanellope is just coming of age, she's just finding that thing that makes her passionate, and I don't know."

The sentiment was echoed by Reilly right around the same time, during an interview with Metro. The star waxed philosophical about the responsibility of being granted direct access to the hearts of children by appearing in a Disney film, and how he lobbied to make Ralph Breaks the Internet a film that would "nourish" kids. But when asked about how the story will continue, he balked.

"No one on the team is talking about [making a third movie] at all," Reilly said. "But [the] press keep saying [things] like, 'Well, there'll be another one, surely.'  Like, I don't know. Where are we going to go from here?"

So, to the veracity of the rumor concerning Wreck-It Ralph 3: both the previous films' directors and its star were clear on having no idea where a third film would go, and both seemed to think that a three-quel was completely unnecessary... and this was less than a year ago. We find it to be highly unlikely that in the intervening months, all involved have done a complete 180 on the potential project, Johnston and Moore have had an amazing idea that furthers the story they began in a meaningful way, and that they then pitched it to Disney and got it greenlit (and that only WGTC's mysterious sources know about it).

Sorry, fans, but we're going to go ahead and peg this rumor as being a bunch of malarkey. It doesn't necessarily mean that Wreck-It Ralph 3 will never happen, but we have no reason to believe it's currently in the works.

Of course, we'll keep our ears to the ground for any official news to the contrary, and we'll keep you posted.