Brave 2: Will We Ever Get To See The Sequel?

The wild-haired, Scottish princess Merida stormed the box office in 2012's Brave to become a modest success by Pixar standards (it brought in $237 million domestically, per The Numbers). More importantly, the fiery Merida became Disney's first princess whose story didn't revolve around falling in love, as she actively campaigned not to be married off by her parents. As a result, the character stood out for fans, many of whom are eager to see how things are going in the princess' kingdom nearly a decade later. Sadly, it's looking increasingly less likely that Brave 2 will happen — at least for the foreseeable future.

Right now, the biggest roadblock is that Pixar's upcoming slate of films prioritizes fresh ideas over sequels. In an era when Hollywood is increasingly relying on established IP for hits, Pixar's commitment to bringing original ideas to the big screen is admirable, but it's also frustrating for anyone hoping to see a followup to Brave, Inside Out, or Up in the near future. In a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pixar president Jim Morris revealed that Toy Story 4 was the last sequel Pixar had on its docket for the time being, and that's largely due to the studio's stable of filmmakers exploring new projects.

Pixar hasn't made a state secret of its disposition toward sequels in general.

"Most studios jump on doing a sequel as soon as they have a successful film, but our business model is a filmmaker model, and we don't make a sequel unless the director of the original film has an idea that they like and are willing to go forward on," Morris explained to EW. In the case of Brave, that makes the chance of a sequel happening even more complicated, because technically the movie had two directors.

For six years, Brenda Chapman worked on Brave at Pixar before she was fired over "creative differences" and replaced by Mark Andrews, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Since then, Andrews has also left Pixar, and is currently working on The Bad Guys for DreamWorks Animation. With neither director still at the studio, Merida's story would have to be handed over to someone else entirely, or Pixar would need to woo either Chapman or Andrews back. Either option would take time, and given the amount of work that goes into animated features, it would still be years before Brave 2 actually hit screens.

At the moment, both Chapman and Andrews appear to be focusing on other projects, but in 2013, Chapman did tell The Scotsman he would be game for a Brave sequel if the right idea comes along. "If we got the right story it would be fun — to get the gang back together again, add a few more new characters and find out what other Scottish talents are out there that might want to do a animated fun," he said. "I don't know if there will be another one. We never make a film at Pixar to have a sequel."

While there's no new Brave movie in the works at Pixar, fans of Merida still have something to look forward to: the 2021 film Raya and the Last Dragon. Like Brave, the upcoming animated feature focuses on a heroine who isn't in search of love. Instead, Raya, who will be voiced by Star Wars' Kelly Marie Tran, is on a quest to find the last dragon. The intrepid warrior is set to cross five kingdoms during her search, and she'll no doubt have plenty of opportunities to wow viewers along the way. 

Raya and the Last Dragon may not be a Brave sequel, but it does sound like it will honor Merida's adventurous spirit. And unless Pixar is keeping a pretty big secret, it's likely to be as close as fans will get to a Brave followup in the next five years, at the very least.