Finding Dory sequel: Andrew Stanton has 'stopped saying never' for anything

Disney is ruling the box office with Finding Dory, which has surpassed expectations and has managed to earn $186m (£126m) worldwide in its opening weekend. After Finding Nemo in 2003, the adorable Blue Tang fish (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) who suffers from short-term memory loss is ruling the hearts of fans.

The success of the movie has sparked curiosity regarding another sequel of the popular aquatic franchise but Disney remains tight-lipped about any possibilities. "There was zero discussion of a sequel," director/writer Andrew Stanton told EW on a possible Finding Dory 3.

"We've never had those kinds of discussions here. The only time they may have occurred, as far as that typical executive speak of, 'Oh, we got a hit and we want another one,' was when there was a lot of battling between Steve [Jobs] and [Michael] Eisner about Toy Story 2 and 3. But prior to that and even post-that, any discussion of sequels has always just been story-based."

The 50-year-old director based at Pixar Animation Studios, recalled how the production team struggled during Toy Story 2 and stressed the importance of doing sequels based on an original and inspiring story.

"That was the only time we started for commercial reasons, and almost failed because of it and we took a huge lesson from that. We should not approach any movie, no matter whether it comes from a universe pre-existing or if it's completely original, any differently. It should be inspired by a kernel of an idea for a story, that we're going to want to battle for four years."

Stanton does agree that he is hopeful for a sequel to Nemo and Dory in the future and prefers not to say "never".

"Now, I've stopped saying never for anything because there are a lot of new characters that get introduced and we've broadened the universe for this movie. And again, I'm very used to seeing that world continue to open up from the Toy Story movies... so I've learned to just say, to my knowledge, I think everything that was born of the first movie is wrapped up. But we'll see."