The first Frozen came out in 2013 and it was a cultural phenomenon which had kids and parents in a chokehold for years. Frozen 2 came out in 2019 and it outperformed the first film at the box office! Frozen has become a franchise with over $2.7 billion in box office receipts. And I still haven’t watched either film, sorry! Well, Disney greenlit two more sequels, which are in production now. Frozen 3 will be out in two years. Well, The Wrap had some fascinating tea about how Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad are getting PAID for these sequels.

In a landmark deal that is among the highest in animation history, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Idina Menzel have signed deals worth over $60 million each to return for “Frozen 3″ and “Frozen 4,” TheWrap has exclusively learned.

Jennifer Lee, the lauded director of the first two films, will also be returning to direct.

The animated franchise is arguably Disney’s most valuable, and sequels have been in the works for some time. “Frozen 2” grossed $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office in 2019, which followed the Oscar-winning original that scored $1.3 billion. The cast members are considered critical to the continuation of the franchise.

The $60 million fee for the two new sequels — which includes upfront fees and back end bonus payments in each case — is a steep increase from the trio’s paydays on “Frozen 2,” which netted each $15 million, a separate individual with knowledge told TheWrap. Bell, Gad and Menzel are all paid the same amount for each “Frozen” film, for which they provide speaking and singing voices for the beloved characters Anna, Elsa and Olaf the snowman.

An executive close to the deal emphasized that it was not a lump sum and would be paid over several years tied to the production of each film and the performance of each at the box office. Talent deals typically pay an upfront sum, in this case close to $20 million per actor, with bonus payments tied to the film’s financial success.

A Disney spokesman declined to comment. But even in the context of successful franchises, the paydays stand out as rich.

[From The Wrap]

I remember Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy negotiating really rich contracts for the Shrek sequels, but it was nothing like this. Reportedly, Myers made something like $15 million for Shrek 3, and I consider Myers, Diaz and Murphy to be utterly vital to the success of that franchise. I guess you can argue the same for Gad, Bell and Menzel though – Menzel’s iconic voice can’t be replaced or replicated, and it would simply be weird to replace Gad and Bell. Disney probably weighed doing so, but they wouldn’t want any bad press to ruin their successful franchise. So Disney has to give them $60 million EACH!! Completely bonkers.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.