The Parr family just clocked in for duty. Pixar’s highly anticipated Incredibles 3 has locked its theatrical release for 2028, with voice recording officially underway this month, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report detailing the studio’s creative pipeline. The news arrives as Helen Parr herself, Oscar-winning Holly Hunter, steps back into the recording booth to bring Elastigirl to life once more.
Hunter confirmed in mid-January that she would begin recording her lines in March 2026, marking a significant production milestone for the superhero family’s third big-screen adventure. The actor, who has voiced the stretching matriarch since the 2004 original, told Screen Rant she’s entering the studio without knowing the full story, a familiar leap of faith she’s taken before. “I don’t know the story of ‘Incredibles’ ahead of time. I go into the studio and record… it’s really exciting,” she shared.
The third installment arrives with a significant creative shift. While franchise architect Brad Bird, who wrote and directed both previous films, returns to pen the screenplay, directing duties have passed to Peter Sohn. Sohn, who directed Pixar’s Elemental and The Good Dinosaur, brings fresh eyes to a universe he knows intimately; he served as a story artist on the original 2004 film early in his career.
Bird’s decision to hand the reins to Sohn came after years of mentoring the younger filmmaker, according to industry reports. The Incredibles 2 director will remain closely involved as writer and executive producer, ensuring narrative continuity while Sohn shapes the visual storytelling.
Hunter leads a returning cast that includes Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible and Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone, though official confirmations for all original cast members remain pending. Sarah Vowell, who voices teenage daughter Violet, and Huck Milner, who took over as Dash for the 2018 sequel, are expected to reprise their roles, though Pixar has not issued formal casting announcements.
The voice recording timeline aligns with standard Pixar production workflows. Initial vocal performances provide the emotional blueprint for animators, who build character performances around the actors’ deliveries. With Hunter in the booth this month, the animation team can begin translating sound into motion.
Incredibles 3 arrives ten years after Incredibles 2 shattered box office records with $1.24 billion worldwide, one of Pixar’s highest-grossing releases. The 2018 sequel, which picked up immediately after the first film’s cliffhanger ending, focused on Helen’s public superhero career while Bob navigated stay-at-home parenting with baby Jack-Jack.
The new installment faces the challenge of advancing a story that has spanned two decades of audience attachment. The original 2004 film won two Academy Awards and redefined superhero animation with its mid-century modern aesthetic and surprisingly adult themes of midlife crisis and government oversight. Its follow-up expanded the universe while retaining Bird’s signature blend of family dynamics and action spectacle.
Incredibles 3 anchors a sequel-heavy slate that includes Toy Story 5 (arriving June 19, 2026), a third Monsters Inc. film in early development, and Coco 2 scheduled for 2029. The lineup represents Pixar’s most aggressive embrace of franchise filmmaking, a departure from the studio’s historical “two originals for every sequel” philosophy.
Yet originals haven’t disappeared. The studio recently released Hoppers and has Gatto, a Venice-set cat thief adventure from Luca director Enrico Casarosa, scheduled for summer 2027. More intriguingly, Pixar is developing its first-ever musical with Turning Red director Domee Shi attached, alongside Ono Ghost Market, a project inspired by Asian myths about supernatural marketplaces where the living and dead intersect.
For Incredibles 3, the road ahead stretches long. Animation productions typically require three to four years from voice recording to final frame, making 2028 a realistic target. Fans hungry for details about the plot, whether the story follows immediately after Incredibles 2 or jumps ahead, will need patience. Hunter herself admitted she’s working without a script, trusting the creative team’s vision.
What’s certain: the Parrs are suiting up again. Helen’s stretching arms, Bob’s strength, Violet’s force fields, Dash’s speed, and Jack-Jack’s unpredictable chaos will return to theaters in 2028. For now, Hunter’s voice fills a recording booth somewhere, bringing Elastigirl back to life one line at a time.
