It isn't often that another sequel is celebrated, but a fourth installment of "Toy Story"? We're in. By now, Hollywood has proved that massive franchises aren't all bad, and the form has become so commonplace that studios are able to plan their movie release dates years into the future. Want to know what you're going to be watching in 2019? Here's a hint: You've already seen it.
Twenty years after Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels starred in "Dumb and Dumber," the duo are back with the anticipated sequel "Dumb and Dumber To" on November 14. (Yes, the "To" is intentional.)
Jennifer Lawrence has been Katniss Everdeen, the arrow-slinging heroine of "The Hunger Games" franchise, since 2012, and we're only halfway through the franchise. The final two movies, "Mockingjay -- Part I" and "Mockingjay -- Part II," will arrive in November 2014 and November 2015, respectively.
Charlie Day, Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis will reunite on November 26 for a second installment of "Horrible Bosses."
The penguins from Dreamworks' "Madagascar" films have turned into breakout stars. The scheming seabirds now have a movie all of their own called "Penguins of Madagascar," which opens November 26. And then in 2018, we'll also get a fourth installment of the "Madagascar" series.
Peter Jackson's journey through his adaptation of "The Hobbit" has been unexpectedly long, as what was intended to be a two-part project was broken up into three movies. The first two, "An Unexpected Journey" and "The Desolation of Smaug," opened in 2012 and 2013. The final installment, "The Battle of the Five Armies," opens December 17.
Along with the big "Hobbit" release, December 2014 will also host the sequel "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb."
One has to admire Liam Neeson's commitment to playing the gruff guy who saves the day. The actor will once again fill that role in "Taken 3," which opens January 9, 2015. That month, "The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death" will also arrive, followed by "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" in February.
You've already heard of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," but its March 2015 sequel will focus on "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." (No, we are not kidding.) If you're more in the mood for a few ghost scares, the latest "Paranormal Activity" installment, "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" will also be out.
Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Woodley had a hit on their hands when they starred in 2013's "Divergent." Like "The Hunger Games," this movie franchise is based on an action-centric young adult series, and like "The Hunger Games," it's also being told in four installments. The second movie, "Insurgent," debuts March 20, and will be followed by "Allegiant: Part I" in 2016 and "Allegiant: Part 2" in 2017.
The "Fast and Furious" franchise has been around long enough to have fallen out of favor before becoming popular again. The seventh film in the series, "Furious 7," is one of franchise star Paul Walker's final projects before his death in November 2013. Following "Furious 7's" April 3 release, we'll also get a look at "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2."
"The Avengers" was a game-changer in 2012, and the arrival of its sequel "Avengers: Age of Ultron," is likely going to eclipse everything else happening in May. Although this installment has yet to bow, Marvel already has two more "Avengers" movies on the calendar: "Avengers: Infinity War Part I" opens May 2018, followed by "Avengers: Infinity War Part 2" in May 2019.
George Miller's apocalyptic "Mad Max" is back in May 2015 with the fourth installment, "Fury Road." Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron star in this one, which is said to be more akin to the second film in the series, "The Road Warrior."
Another huge sequel in arriving in May will be the follow-up to 2012's a capella comedy "Pitch Perfect." Also arriving in May 2015 will be a third installment of "Insidious."
With the man in demand, Chris Pratt, leading the charge, the fourth "Jurassic Park" movie "Jurassic World" is setting itself up nicely to be a 2015 summer blockbuster.
The raunchy and lovable teddy bear that Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane introduced us to in 2012 is back for a second time in June 2015.
For his follow-up to the 2012 stripper movie "Magic Mike," Channing Tatum is raising the stakes. Instead of camping out in a strip club, he's taking his male dancers on the road to a stripper convention.
Technically, 2015's "Terminator: Genisys" will be a reboot of the original 1984 story, and will kick off a new, stand-alone trilogy from Paramount. But if we were looking at all the "Terminator" movies as a whole, including remakes, this would be the fifth film. And we're not stopping with "Genisys" -- there's another installment on the books for 2018.
The "Despicable Me" franchise's little yellow "Minions" are getting their own movie, despite speaking an unintelligible language. But as one of the trailers for the upcoming film proves, we don't need to understand exactly what the minions are saying to understand that we'd totally watch this movie. A "Despicable Me 3" is on the way, too, and is scheduled for June 2017.
Following "Sinister 2" in August, the sequel to 2014's "The Maze Runner," "The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials," arrives in September along with "Hotel Transylvania 2."
Rumors that Sam Smith will sing the theme song for "Bond 24" is just one of the things that has us beyond excited for this installment's arrival. Daniel Craig returns as 007, and the femme fatale in this film will be played by Lea Seydoux.
The Force will "Awaken" on December 18, 2015, as "Star Wars: Episode VII" bows in theaters.
Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible 5" will see the actor reprise his daredevil character Ethan Hunt in a new installment arriving on Christmas Day 2015. Also arriving in theaters that month will be "Kung Fu Panda 3."
The comedy of Ice Cube and Kevin Hart is a beautiful thing to watch, and we'll get a second dose of their buddy humor in January 2016's "Ride Along 2." That month will also see the release of the animated sequel, "The Nut Job 2."
After a bit of maneuvering, the sequel to 2013's "Man of Steel," "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," has found a home on the movie release calendar in March 2016.
The last time we saw Eddie Murphy as Detective Axel Foley, it was in 1994's "Beverly Hills Cop III." But the passage of time is nothing to a movie studio eager to bet on a proven franchise; "Beverly Hills Cop 4," again starring Murphy as Det. Foley, is slated for March 2016.
Johnny Depp returns as the Mad Hatter in the long-awaited followup to 2010's "Alice in Wonderland." This 2016 release is called "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass," and it'll follow April 2016 sequels "The Best Man: Wedding" and "The Huntsman," which is a follow-up to 2012's "Snow White and the Huntsman."
The "X-Men" franchise has been thoroughly revived with the arrival of 2011's "X-Men: First Class" and 2014's "X-Men: Days of Future Past." Now we can look forward to "X-Men: Apocalypse," which is currently scheduled for May 2016, along with another "Captain America" installment, "Captain America: Civil War."
When it comes to sequels, few have been as longed for as "Finding Dory," the next installment following Disney/Pixar's heartwarming 2003 film, "Finding Nemo." This will arrive in theaters along with "Now You See Me 2" and "Independence Day 2."
So Michael Bay's 2014 take on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" suffered some criticism; it still did well enough at the box office to make a sequel an obvious choice. Reporter April and her four turtle friends will return to theaters on June 3, 2016.
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was a pleasant surprise in 2011, and 2014's sequel, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," was considered one of the best releases of the summer. All of that means the still untitled third installment, due in July 2016, has a lot to live up to. Also arriving that month will be another "Bourne" installment, as well as "Ice Age 5."
It's been a while, but James Cameron is making a return to Pandora in December 2016 with "Avatar 2." This installment will be followed by two others: "Avatar 3" in 2017, and "Avatar 4" in 2018.
What's a holiday season without at least one kids movie franchise? In December 2016, that go-to will be "Alvin and the Chipmunks 4." Also arriving this month will be another "Star Wars" installment.
Guillermo del Toro's visually resplendent "Pacific Rim" is getting a follow-up in April 2017. The script isn't expected to be done until spring 2015, but it's a safe bet you can look forward to more sea monsters.
Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" was either going to be a complete disaster or a complete hit; lucky for us, it was the latter. Following the August 2014 release's insane run at the box office, Marvel is planning to deliver a second "Guardians" on May 5, 2017.
At this point, Johnny Depp might want to consider making his eyeliner permanent. The actor is stepping into Captain Jack Sparrow's costume once again for the fifth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, which is titled "Dead Men Tell No Tales."
More certain -- at least for now -- are the release dates for the third "How to Train Your Dragon" movie, and the third "Amazing Spider-Man" movie.
Thor may now be a woman, but at the movies Chris Hemsworth is still wielding the hero's hammer. Following "Thor" and "Thor: The Dark World," the third installment, "Thor: Ragnarok," is slated for July 28, 2017.
A new and improved Godzilla stormed into theaters in May 2014, and in 2018 we'll get a second look at the fearsome monster. As with the 2014 installment, director Gareth Edwards again sits at the helm.
But when it comes to the fourth installment in "The Amazing Spider-Man" franchise, Sony is already planning to see the masked hero fly into theaters again in 2018.
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The "Toy Story 4" announcement has thrilled fans
But the original 1995 movie almost didn't happen
Here are four other fun facts about the film
(CNN) -- It's been almost 20 years since the first "Toy Story" debuted in 1995, but the franchise is still going strong.
On Thursday, Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger revealed that "Toy Story 4" is coming in June 2017 to the delight of pretty much everyone -- well, except those still grieving from "Toy Story 3." (Our hearts seriously may never recover.)
WHY THE HELL IS THERE GONNA BE A TOY STORY 4 THE THIRD ONE TIED IT UP PERFECTLY AND IM STILL CRYING ABOUT IT
— jav (@thingsjavsays) November 7, 2014
But everyone else? Totally losing their minds.
THEY'RE MAKING A TOY STORY 4 OH MY GOD
— ashley (@biebersapphire) November 7, 2014
If you aren't excited about Toy Story 4, you must not be a human with feelings.
— kimmy ♡ (@Porkhub) November 7, 2014
Toy Story 4 will be in theaters in 2017. I REPEAT THIS ISNT A DRILL
— Anthony Deluca (@AnthonyDelucV) November 7, 2014
WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IN TOY STORY 4 I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS
— ally (@tomlinidiot) November 7, 2014
Yeah, we know you're excited. But as this fan perfectly summed up the news, we've still got a looooong way to go until June 2017.
Good: Pixar's working on 'Toy Story 4' (woohoo!)
Bad: Toy Story 3 ended perfectly. Why make Toy Story 4?
Ugly: The wait for it till 2017.
— Akshar (@AksharPathak) November 7, 2014
So let's take a trip down memory lane and revisit the movie that started it all, shall we? Here are five things you may not know about 1995's "Toy Story":
1. It all goes back to a short called "Tin Toy"
In 1988, Pixar created a short film using computer animation called "Tin Toy," which told the story of a little toy soldier who was horrified by the babbling baby eager to play with him.
With that Oscar-winning short, Pixar's John Lasseter first started playing with "this notion of a juxtaposition with the audience," as Lasseter puts it in the documentary "The Making of Toy Story."
"It's where you can show them something that they are so familiar with, and all of a sudden you can make them look at something from a different point of view," he explains. "Like, looking at a cute little baby from a toy's perspective. From a toy, that (baby's) a monster! We were inspired from 'Tin Toy' with the ideas we developed there of toys being alive."
Pixar then played around with the idea of the "Tin Toy," Tinny, being one of two stars of a toy-focused buddy movie. But when the animation studio landed on the idea of the movie being set in a kid's bedroom, where one new toy would come to join the older ones, it didn't quite add up that a kid would be that excited about such a simple plaything.
Enter Buzz Lightyear.
2. Buzz Lightyear was originally called "Lunar Larry"
The action hero Buzz Lightyear is essentially a mashup of all of the Pixar team's favorite toys, and he was initially named "Lunar Larry." (The team also tried out something like "Tempest from Morph.")
Tim Allen also wasn't the only actor under consideration for the part. In 2001, Billy Crystal admitted that he too had been offered the role.
"It's the only regret I have in the business of something I passed on," Crystal said.
As for Woody, brought to life by Tom Hanks, that was inspired by John Lasseter's Casper the Friendly Ghost toy, which also had that old-fashioned pull-string.
3. "Toy Story" wasn't supposed to be the movie's title
"Toy Story" was supposed to just be the working title for the project, and not what it was supposed to be called when it arrived in theaters.
Back in 2011, "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich turned to Twitter to reveal some of the options that were floating around back in the '90s. (Unkrich served as an editor on the first "Toy Story.")
Some of the options were pretty straightforward, titles like "Made in Taiwan" "Moving Buddies" and "The Cowboy & The Spaceman." And then there were some really creative ones, from "Toyz in the Hood" to "Bring Me The Arm of Buzz Lightyear."
We're kind of a fan of the potential title "To Infinity and Beyond," though.
4. The movie almost didn't happen
According to Entertainment Weekly, November 19, 1993 was a dark day for Pixar's creative team.
That was when the studio presented a collection of story reels to Disney, whose animation chief was not at all into it.
Among the complaints was that action figure astronaut Buzz Lightyear and quaint cowboy Woody were just unlikable and had awkward chemistry. (In the words of Joss Whedon, "The original Woody was a thundering a******.'')
To fix it, Pixar re-examined their two starring characters -- and listened more closely to the voices behind them.
"We originally thought Buzz was a heroic kind of super space hero Dudley Do-Right who always does the big gesture," said producer Ralph Guggenheim. "But that was a setup for a big fall. We listened to Tim (Allen's) recordings and wound up with a self-confident but modest space cop, a Sgt. Joe Friday who does his job every day."
And for Hanks' Woody, who originally was supposed to be the top toy who reigned over the bedroom from the top of the bed, Pixar toned down some of the sarcasm and made him less of a dictator.
"When we moved him down to the floor with the other toys who looked up to him as Andy's favorite," Guggenheim said, "he became one of the guys, more likable."
5. The license plate number on Andy's mom's minivan has a special meaning
Several Pixar fans make it a game to watch for hidden messages in the company's films, and the sequence "A113" is one of them.
According to Disney Insider, that was the room number for a class Pixar's John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton were all in at CalArts. You can spot that sequence on the license plate of the minivan driven by Andy's mom in "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2" and "Toy Story 3."