“Ice Age 6” is coming with original stars, 3 years after Disney closed Blue Sky Studios

Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, and John Leguizamo teamed up for a new teaser released at the D23 Brazil fan convention.

It's the dawn of a new age.

Disney surprised fans Friday by announcing that Ice Age 6 is on the way — three years after the company closed down Blue Sky Studios, the animation house behind the frosty film franchise.

A teaser released during the D23 Brazil fan convention features three of the original movie's stars celebrating the unexpected new chapter in the Ice Age saga. "Hello, everybody! Ray Romano here with some big news," the video opens, depicting the voice of Manny the woolly mammoth bundled in a warm blanket and beanie. "Woo, it's cold in here. Did the AC break or something?"

The teaser then cuts to Queen Latifah, who voices Ellie the woolly mammoth, asking Romano over the phone, "Hey, Ray, ready to give the big announcement?" She continues, "I see you got my gift! I thought it would be fun," as snow pours down over Romano on a sound stage. Romano then reveals that "Ice Age 6 is coming to theaters."

John Leguizamo, the voice of Sid the ground sloth, is finally shown saying, "The herd is back, baby! I gotta call everybody I know."

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The most recent film in the franchise, Ice Age: Collision Course, was released in 2016. Numerous other Ice Age-related projects have surfaced since then, including two short films, an animated TV special, and the Disney+ original series Ice Age: Scrat Tales.

But the big-screen future of the popular franchise, which has grossed more than $3.2 billion at the worldwide box office, was called into question when Disney shuttered Blue Sky in 2021. The House of Mouse had scooped up Blue Sky (also behind movies like Rio, Spies in Disguise, and Ferdinand) as part of its acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, and the company cited significant losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor in the decision to close the animation house.

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A studio spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly at the time that, "Given the current economic realities, after much consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios."

Disney still houses Blue Sky's library, and the company moved forward with the release of Scrat Tales and the 2022 short filmThe End. A Blue Sky animated feature based on the fantasy comic Nimona, from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power creator Noelle Stevenson, was under threat of cancellation, but eventually released last year.

More stars are returning to Ice Age 6 beyond Romano, Latifah, and Leguizamo. Denis Leary, who voices Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and Simon Pegg, who voices the weasel Buck, are also on board. Arguably the most beloved character in the Ice Age universe, the saber-toothed squirrel Scrat, was voiced by Chris Wedge, the director of all five previous Ice Age films and the co-founder of Blue Sky. Wedge has not been confirmed to return.