Jodie Foster and Walton Goggins are joining the cast of Disney’s next animated movie, “Hexed.”
The casting news was announced during the Disney Entertainment Showcase presentation at Disney’s D23 fan event in Anaheim, California on Friday. Oscar-winner Foster will play a devious witch queen, while Goggins will play a three-eyed cat named Beef Roger Crummchuk.
“It is so much fun to return to Disney because that’s where my career began,” Foster said, referring to her run of ’70s films including “Napoleon and Samantha” and “Freaky Friday.”
Starring Hailee Steinfeld and Rashida Jones, “Hexed” follows a teenage oddball and her Type A mom, who discovers her weirdness is actually hidden magic, transporting them to a world where magic can run free.
Josie Trinidad, the head of story on “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Zootopia,” is making her film directorial debut with “Hexed” alongside Jason Hand, the “Moana 2” co-director and head of story on “Encanto.” Roy Conli and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones will serve as producers.
“Hexed” is set to release in theaters this fall on Nov. 25.
Disney’s recent history with original animation like “Hexed” has been spotty. This spring’s “Hoppers” was a hit, but other films that weren’t sequels such as “Elio” and “Luca” have struggled to draw crowds.
Meanwhile, established franchises remain core to Disney’s box-office strategy: Last month, “Toy Story 5” crossed the $1 billion worldwide mark since its June 19 release and stands as one of the highest-grossing films of 2026. That follows major success for 2025’s “Zootopia 2,” which beat out “Inside Out 2” to became the highest-grossing animated film of all time with $1.7 billion at the global box office. “Zootopia 2” also surpassed “Frozen 2” as Disney’s biggest animated film ever and was 2025’s highest-grossing movie.
