The Kingdom Hearts franchise is having one of its biggest weeks in over two decades. Kingdom Hearts IV showed a Coco-themed world at D23, Disney confirmed an anime series for Disney+, and now the man who runs Walt Disney Animation Studios has declined to rule out a feature film.
Jared Bush, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, was asked directly at the D23 convention whether fans will ever get a Kingdom Hearts movie. His answer was careful, measured, and — perhaps deliberately — wide open.
‘Nothing Is Impossible’ — Bush’s Careful Answer
IGN’s Jeffrey Vega put the question to Bush bluntly: “Are we ever gonna get a Kingdom Hearts movie?” He then joked that Bush essentially holds the power to greenlight such a project himself.
“Technically, you’re not wrong. I’d say, I’m always excited to hear what people are passionate about. And I’d say that we have a very bright future of new projects coming out — different ways of putting material out into the world. So I would just say, nothing is impossible.”
Bush did not announce a film. There is no title, no release window, no production start date. What he did do was refuse to close the door — and in the context of this particular weekend, that felt significant. Disney had just spent hours celebrating a franchise that it days earlier confirmed as one of its nine billion-dollar gaming properties.
The phrasing “different ways of putting material out into the world” is worth noting. Disney Animation has spent the past decade expanding beyond traditional theatrical releases, with projects landing on Disney+ and through streaming partnerships. A Kingdom Hearts film would fit neatly into that strategy.
A Billion-Dollar Franchise Makes the Business Case
The financial argument for a Kingdom Hearts movie writes itself, at least in boardroom terms. Disney’s corporate blog, published just before D23, confirmed the franchise has generated over one billion dollars in revenue across games, merchandise, and related media.
Key context: Kingdom Hearts is one of only nine Disney gaming franchises to cross the $1 billion mark — alongside properties like Marvel Strike Force. More than half of those nine emerged in the last 12 years.
For a franchise that began in 2002 as an unlikely crossover between Disney characters and Final Fantasy, that figure is remarkable. The series has spent more than two decades building a devoted global audience through games, manga, and novels — but never a feature film. That gap makes the commercial opportunity even clearer.
Disney’s recent track record with game-to-screen adaptations is also encouraging. The company has shown increasing willingness to translate gaming IP into film and television, and Kingdom Hearts’ built-in audience of millions would make it a relatively low-risk bet compared to original properties.
The Disney+ Anime Series Is the Real First Step
Before anyone starts buying cinema tickets for Sora’s big-screen debut, it is worth remembering what Disney actually announced this weekend. The confirmed screen project is a Kingdom Hearts anime series for Disney+ and the Disney Channel — not a theatrical film.
The series was developed with series creator Tetsuya Nomura and is described as an original story rather than a direct retelling of the games. That creative choice suggests Disney is treating the Kingdom Hearts universe as something it wants to build on television first, testing audience appetite before committing to a much more expensive film production.
Bush’s comment about “different ways of putting material out into the world” could easily describe this phased approach: anime series first, then potentially a film if the streaming numbers justify it. The series effectively serves as proof of concept for Disney’s animation division.
Kingdom Hearts IV Arrives Late 2027
The franchise’s next major milestone remains Kingdom Hearts IV, which is targeting a late 2027 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. The D23 trailer revealed Sora exploring the Land of the Dead from Coco, complete with calavera face paint and a keyblade modelled on Héctor’s guitar.
The game also showed playable Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Hades, alongside glimpses of Quadratum — a realistic city inspired by modern-day Tokyo that was first teased at the June 2026 Nintendo Direct. Graphically, the Coco world looked stunning, with the endless city of the dead providing impressive environmental depth.
Bush, who co-wrote Moana, Zootopia, and Encanto before directing Zootopia 2, is no stranger to building Disney franchises across multiple formats. If anyone at the studio understands how to extend a beloved property into new media, it is him. Whether that extension includes a Kingdom Hearts film remains to be seen — but the answer is no longer a flat no.
For fans who have waited over 20 years for any kind of screen adaptation, even a carefully non-committal “nothing is impossible” feels like progress.
