Pixar is making its first ghost movie. Chief creative officer Pete Docter introduced “Ghost Market” at D23 Friday night, revealing a March 10, 2028 release date along with the studio’s first teaser footage for an original supernatural comedy centered on hungry spirits and a mysterious late-night market.
Docter described the premise from the Anaheim stage, introducing the film’s protagonist as a fast-talking Chicago teenager and content creator named Kyle whose life gets upended when his mother forces him on a family vacation to Hawaii. Searching for a late-night snack, Kyle stumbles into a hidden roadside market that turns out to sit at the crossroads between the world of the living and the dead.
The teaser, shot in a found-footage style reminiscent of low-budget horror films, shows Kyle speaking directly into a phone camera as he wanders into a spooky diner. He spots a bowl of ramen and asks, deadpan, whether the establishment takes Apple Pay. The noodles then begin floating, lifted by an unseen force, prompting Kyle to bolt. He tells viewers earlier in the clip that the film is “basically a movie about hungry ghosts” and promises it won’t leave audiences traumatized the way other scary movies might, a claim the ramen sequence immediately undercuts for comic effect.
Pixar is officially diving into the supernatural with their very first ghost movie: Ghost Market, arriving in Spring 2028! 👻 #D23 pic.twitter.com/7qhea6LurP
— Pixar (@Pixar) August 15, 2026
The project had circulated for months under the working title “Ono Ghost Market” following a Wall Street Journal report on Pixar’s slate earlier this year. Trevor Jimenez, a Pixar veteran whose credits include the Oscar-nominated short “Weekends” and story work on “Soul,” is attached to direct. The film reportedly began development as a Disney+ series before Pixar elevated it to a full theatrical feature.
“Ghost Market” arrives as Pixar leans further into original storytelling after a mixed run with films outside its established franchises. “Elio” opened to the worst debut in the studio’s history last year, while this summer’s “Toy Story 5” crossed $1 billion worldwide. The new film lands ahead of “Incredibles 3,” which Pixar also detailed at D23 for a June 2028 release, giving the studio two theatrical outings in a single year.
