Frozen 3 and 4 Stars Cash In With Massive Paydays
Frozen isn’t just breaking box office records—it’s shattering salary ceilings: Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Idina Menzel have locked in bank-busting deals to return for Frozen 3 and 4, among the richest paydays in animation history.
Frozen is back to breaking records before a single frame of snow hits the screen. The core trio is reportedly cashing checks that put them in the top tier of animation paydays, and yes, the numbers are eyebrow-raising.
The money, in plain English
- Kristen Bell (Anna), Josh Gad (Olaf), and Idina Menzel (Elsa) have reportedly each locked in deals for Frozen 3 and Frozen 4 that add up to more than $60 million per actor across the two movies. That figure combines guaranteed fees and box-office bonuses.
- The upfront piece is big: close to $20 million per actor, per film. The rest comes from performance-based payouts tied to how the movies do.
- For context, each reportedly made around $15 million on Frozen 2, so this is a serious jump.
- One executive familiar with the talks told TheWrap the money won’t land as a single lump sum; it will be paid out over several years.
- Disney hasn’t commented on the numbers. If they’re accurate, this is one of the richest animation packages any voice cast has seen.
Why Disney is willing to spend
Short version: the ice castle still prints money. The original Frozen did $1.3 billion worldwide, and Frozen 2 topped it with $1.4 billion in 2019. Beyond the box office, this franchise is a merchandising and experiences machine: toys, clothes, theme-park rides, touring shows, cruise ship programming, and stage productions around the globe.
All of that spun out of a 2013 film loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, which became a cultural event and took home two Oscars: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for Let It Go.
Who is making Frozen 3
Jennifer Lee, who directed the first two films, is back to direct Frozen 3, this time alongside Trent Correy (he helmed Disney’s 2023 short Once Upon a Studio). Longtime producer Peter Del Vecho is returning, as are songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. In other words, the band’s back together.
Release timing
Frozen 3 is set for Thanksgiving 2027, specifically November 24. Frozen 4 doesn’t have a date yet, but it’s in active development.
If you’re wondering whether voice actors typically see paydays like this: not usually. But when you anchor a billion-dollar franchise that still moves mountains of merch a decade later, the math gets very friendly.