Coco 2 has a release date, and the villain is driving the story. Pixar confirmed at D23 that the sequel opens in theaters in November 2029, with Benjamin Bratt reprising Ernesto de la Cruz, the disgraced superstar whose fraud was exposed at the end of the original film. Disney’s post-D23 calendar updates have since pinned it down further: Coco 2 is now dated for November 21, 2029.
The Villain Drives The Sequel
Bratt appeared on stage alongside Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter to lay out the premise. Ernesto, last seen crushed beneath a giant bell after the world learned he stole his songs and murdered Hector, is back for revenge on the boy who exposed him. That revenge sends a now teenage Miguel on a return trip to the Land of the Dead, where the twist lands: Miguel will have to team up with Ernesto himself. Bratt played the reveal for laughs on stage, describing Miguel as a menace to some and casting his own character as the handsome superstar Miguel gets stuck with.
The sequel is set several years after the original, Hector returns as well, and the original film’s songwriting team is writing new music.
A Teenage Miguel In The First Look
The reveal came with the first concept art, showing Miguel as a teenager with a longer, grown out haircut, his guitar on his back and Dante at his side. Pixar’s own social post confirmed the studio is officially returning to the Land of the Dead in 2029. The November window keeps the film in the same seasonal lane as the original, which opened November 22, 2017, timed to the Day of the Dead celebrations at the start of that month, and the new date puts the sequel in theaters almost exactly twelve years later.
The Original Team Returns
Lee Unkrich is back to direct with Adrian Molina co-directing, the same pairing behind the 2017 film, and Pixar veteran Mark Nielsen, whose credits include Toy Story 4 and Inside Out 2, produces. The original Coco won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and grossed more than $800 million worldwide, and its afterlife has only grown since, spanning a Kingdom Hearts world, a Disney California Adventure attraction now under construction and one of Pixar’s most streamed catalog titles.
Coco 2 was one of several major Pixar reveals from the D23 weekend, landing on the same stage where Incredibles 3 handed its story to Violet and Dash. Casting beyond Bratt, including whether Anthony Gonzalez returns as Miguel, has not been announced.
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