Disney announced Thursday it's bringing back Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang for Toy Story 4.
Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger made the announcement that John Lasseter, who directed the first and second films, is returning as director for the fourth film in the franchise, fan site D23.com was the first to report.
Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, Rashida Jones and Will McCormack are tapped to write.
"We love these characters so much; they are like family to us," Lasseter said. "We don't want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what's gone before. Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz's story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee, and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie — and I wanted to direct it myself."
Rumors swirled in early 2013 that there would be a fourth Toy Story movie by 2015, though nothing was confirmed at the time. The new announcement comes with a release date of June 16, 2017.
Toy Story 3, long believed to be the final movie in a planned trilogy, grossed more than $1 billion in the global box office and was considered the best-reviewed movie of 2010 by Rottentomatoes.com