‘Frozen’ short ices up spring; ‘Dragon 3’ postponed

They can’t let it go

Need another fix of “Frozen”? Disney announced this week it will give us more Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and, best of all, Olaf the snowman in an animated short, “Frozen Fever,” sometime in the spring. This time, Anna’s birthday bash is coming up, but Elsa’s icy powers get in the way. Disney hasn’t said which spring movie will have this short attached, but we’re betting it’s the live-action “Cinderella,” due March 13. Lily James is the title character, and Cate Blanchett is her troublesome stepmother. But first, to capitalize on the popularity of “Frozen,” Disney is adding a character based on Elsa to its live-action, fairy-tale drama “Once Upon a Time,” returning to ABC on Sept. 28.

‘Dragon’ their feet

“How to Train Your Dragon 3” was scheduled to open in June 2016, but DreamWorks Animation now says it’s been pushed back to June 9, 2017. No big surprise: It was going up against Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” sequel, “Finding Dory.” Still the franchise is pretty healthy: “How to Train Your Dragon 2” just crossed the $600 million mark for worldwide ticket sales. Domestic sales are a different story …

Summer cools off

The movie industry suffered its worst May-to-Labor Day season since 1997, after adjusting for inflation, says the Los Angeles Times. U.S. ticket sales dropped 15 percent compared with last summer. And no film crossed the $300-million mark domestically for the first time since 2001. That’s despite much-hyped releases such as “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” Summer’s biggest success: “Guardians of the Galaxy,” with more than $280 million.

Movie shorts

We’ve seen plenty of young Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr.). Soon we’ll get old Sherlock: Ian McKellen is “Mr. Holmes,” based on the novel “A Slight Trick of the Mind.” Bill Condon is wrapping up production.

After months of hints, Dwayne Johnson tweeted that he will play the villain Black Adam, one of his favorite comic book characters, in an upcoming “Shazam” movie.

“The Nice Guys,” a noir crime drama set in ’70s L.A., now has a release date: June 17, 2016 (same day as “Finding Dory”). Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling star for “Iron Man 3” director Shane Black.

This story was originally published September 3, 2014 at 3:13 PM with the headline "‘Frozen’ short ices up spring; ‘Dragon 3’ postponed."