Where is Pixar Headed?

With Pixar’s The Incredibles pulling in big numbers at the box office, and with only next years release of Cars to go in their current distribution deal with Disney, attention has once again turned to what’s ahead for Pixar.

Pixar chief executive Steven Jobs told The New York Times that the company will not pounce on the success of The Incredibles to strike a new distribution deal. “We are not going to make a decision until the last possible moment,” Jobs said.

Jobs wants to wait to make a large decision like this because within the next year there will be many changes to the executive positions at a couple of major studios. For example, Sherry Lansing, Paramount’s chairwoman, recently said she would leave when her contract ends in 2005, and Disney chief executive Michael Eisner will retire when his contract ends in September, 2006.

Jobs has always favored a deal with Disney. Eisner’s successor is to be announced by next June, and Pixar could renew talks then – but only if the money is right, executives from both companies say. Jobs reportedly says that two other studios could give Pixar the type of distribution support they are looking for: Warner Bros. Pictures and 20th Century Fox.