Disney’s Hexed Holds Star-Studded World Premiere in Hollywood Ahead of November 25 Release
Disney’s next animated film took its first big step toward audiences this week, and it did so in front of the people who made it.
Hexed, from Walt Disney Animation Studios, held its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on the evening of November 12. The cast and filmmakers gathered for the screening, less than two weeks before the film opens exclusively in theaters on November 25.
It was, in the usual sense of the phrase, a premiere night. There was a red carpet, a theatre full of guests, and a cast stepping out together for the first time to present a film that, until now, most audiences have only seen in trailers and posters. For a studio film, the premiere is not just a party. It is the moment when months of quiet work become public, when the people behind the voices put their names to the characters, and when the conversation around a film starts to take shape in earnest.
That conversation will matter a great deal over the next two weeks. Hexed is Disney Animation’s next major theatrical release, and it arrives at a time of year when family audiences make up a large part of the audience in cinemas. The premiere, in that sense, was the start of the final push toward release.
What Happened
The world premiere of Hexed took place at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on the evening of November 12, 2026.
The voice cast and filmmakers behind the film attended, according to the announcement from Walt Disney Animation Studios, issued through Business Wire on November 13. The announcement described the evening as a celebration of the film’s world premiere, and it listed the cast and filmmakers who were there.
Hailee Steinfeld, who voices the film’s lead character Billie, attended with Rashida Jones, Jodie Foster, and other members of the voice cast. Directors Jason Hand and Fawn Veerasunthorn were also there, along with co-director Josie Trinidad, producers Roy Conli and Yvett Merino, screenwriter Jared Bush, and composer Kris Bowers.
The premiere brought together a notably wide cast. Stephen Fry, Ron Funches, Drew Galloway, Jaxson Tagami, Cheri Oteri, Wayne Knight, Sarah-Nicole Robles, Jodi Benson, Kellie Gerardi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Josh Dallas, and Peter Sohn were also in attendance, according to Disney’s announcement.
The film itself was the centre of the evening, but the premiere also served a simpler purpose. It put the cast in the same room, in front of cameras and audiences, and gave the film a public beginning before it reaches cinemas.
Who Is Involved
At the centre of Hexed is its voice cast, led by three well-known names in very different roles.
Hailee Steinfeld voices Billie, the film’s lead character. Billie is described by Disney as an impulsive and unconventional teenager, and it is her discovery of secret magical abilities that sets the story in motion. Steinfeld’s role is the one the film turns on: a young character who has to learn what her powers mean, and what to do with them, while the world around her changes.
Rashida Jones voices Alice, Billie’s mother. Alice is described as cautious, and that caution matters to the story. She is not a background figure. She travels with Billie, and the two of them have to work together to uncover the family mysteries at the heart of the film. The relationship between mother and daughter is, in Disney’s description of the story, central to what follows.
Jodie Foster voices Queen Celeste. Foster is a two-time Academy Award winner, and her character is the film’s most powerful figure in Hexe, the witch realm at the centre of the story. Queen Celeste is described as a sinister figure who will stop at nothing to maintain her power in perpetuity over Hexe. That description sets up the conflict clearly: a ruler determined to hold on to power, and a young girl whose new abilities threaten that hold.
Walton Goggins voices Beef Roger Crummchuk, a reclusive, magical three-eyed cat who forges an uneasy alliance with Billie and Alice. The character, as described, is not a straightforward ally. He is reclusive, he is magical, and the alliance he forms with Billie and Alice is uneasy. That tension is part of what gives the story its shape.
The voice cast also includes Henry Winkler, Dan Stevens, Tracey Ullman, and Stephen Fry, according to the announcement.
Behind the voices, the film was directed by Jason Hand and Fawn Veerasunthorn, and co-directed by Josie Trinidad. It was produced by Roy Conli and Yvett Merino, from a screenplay by Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller. The film features an original score by Kris Bowers.
Each of those names matters in a different way. The directors and co-director shaped the film’s look and its storytelling. The producers oversaw the production. The screenwriters built the story around Billie and Alice. The composer wrote the music that will carry much of the film’s feeling. At the premiere, they were all present together, which is itself a sign of how a studio film comes together: it is not the work of one person, but of a large team working on the same story.
When It Happened
The world premiere took place on the evening of November 12, 2026, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.
The announcement of the premiere was published on November 13, 2026, at 04:28 UTC, through Business Wire.
The film opens exclusively in theaters on November 25, 2026.
That gap — less than two weeks between premiere and release — is short, and it is deliberate in the way these releases are usually handled. A premiere close to release means the cast can talk about the film while it is still fresh, the press coverage lands close to the opening weekend, and audiences do not have to wait long after first hearing about the film in detail to see it for themselves.
The Story of Hexed
Hexed is described by Walt Disney Animation Studios as an all-new magical coming-of-age saga.
It follows Billie, an impulsive and unconventional teenage girl who discovers secret magical abilities. Once those abilities are unleashed, they hurtle her out of suburbia and into a spectacle-filled journey through a vast witch realm called Hexe.
She does not make the journey alone. Forced to team up with her cautious mother, Alice, they uncover family mysteries that could change the world of witches forever.
That outline tells us a great deal about the kind of film Hexed is trying to be. It is, first, a coming-of-age story. Billie is a teenager, she is impulsive, she is unconventional, and she is discovering something about herself that she did not know was there. That discovery is not just a plot device. It is the thing that changes her life, and it is the thing she has to learn to live with.
It is, second, a story about family. Billie and Alice do not choose to travel together in the easy sense. They are forced to team up. That wording matters. It suggests a relationship that is not smooth at the start, and a journey that will test it. The family mysteries they uncover are not a side detail. They are, in the film’s description, something that could change the world of witches forever.
And it is, third, a story about power. Queen Celeste holds power over Hexe, and she is determined to keep it. Billie, with her new abilities, is a challenge to that power, whether she wants to be or not. That is the conflict that runs through the story: a young person discovering who she is, a mother trying to protect her, and a ruler trying to hold on to control.
The three-eyed cat, Beef Roger Crummchuk, sits in the middle of that conflict. He is reclusive, he is magical, and his alliance with Billie and Alice is uneasy. In a story like this, a character like that often serves as a guide, a complication, and a reminder that the world of Hexe does not work in the way Billie’s suburban life did.
Background: A New Film From Disney Animation
Hexed comes from Walt Disney Animation Studios, and that context matters to how audiences will approach it.
Disney Animation has, for many years, made films that are built around family, music, and a central character discovering something about themselves. Hexed fits that pattern in its outline, but it also has its own shape: a witch realm, a mother-daughter journey, and a villain who is a queen holding on to power.
The premiere is part of how a studio introduces a film like this. The cast is presented, the filmmakers are presented, and the story is described in the studio’s own words. From that point on, the film will be talked about in interviews, in reviews, and in the reactions of audiences who see it first.
The El Capitan Theatre is a fitting place for that introduction. It is a historic Hollywood theatre, and it is closely associated with Disney premieres. Holding the world premiere there puts Hexed in a long line of Disney films that were first shown to the public in that room, in front of the people who made them.
Why This Premiere Matters
A premiere matters for a few reasons, and they are all practical.
First, it is a signal that the film is finished and ready. The cast and filmmakers would not gather for a world premiere if the film were not ready to be shown. The premiere is, in that sense, a public statement: this film is done, and here it is.
Second, it is the start of the film’s public life. Until the premiere, most of what audiences know about Hexed comes from trailers, posters, and announcements. After the premiere, the cast starts talking about the film in interviews, the first reactions start to appear, and the film becomes a topic of conversation in a way that a trailer alone cannot achieve.
Third, the timing matters. Hexed opens on November 25, 2026, in the heart of the late-November period, when many families are looking for something to see together. A premiere on November 12 gives the film two weeks of conversation before it opens. That is a short window, but it is also a focused one. The cast is out in front of the film, the marketing follows them, and the audience does not have to wait long to see what they have been hearing about.
For the cast, the premiere is also a personal moment. Voice actors often work alone in a recording booth, sometimes without meeting the other members of the cast. A premiere is one of the few times they are all in the same room, seeing the finished film together, and hearing how an audience responds to it for the first time.
What Happens Next
From here, the path for Hexed is straightforward in outline, even if the outcome is not yet known.
The cast will continue to promote the film in the days leading up to November 25. Interviews, appearances, and coverage will follow the premiere. Audiences will start to form their own views of the film from what they hear and see.
Then, on November 25, Hexed opens exclusively in theaters. That is the moment when the film stops being something talked about in advance and becomes something audiences can judge for themselves.
What happens after that — how audiences respond, how the film is received, and how it performs — will become clear only after it opens. For now, the premiere has done what a premiere is meant to do: it has introduced the film, its cast, and its story, and it has set the stage for its release.
Conclusion
Disney’s Hexed held its world premiere in Hollywood on November 12, with Hailee Steinfeld, Rashida Jones, Jodie Foster, and the rest of the cast and filmmakers in attendance. The film, directed by Jason Hand and Fawn Veerasunthorn, tells the story of Billie, a teenager who discovers magical abilities and is pulled into the witch realm of Hexe with her mother, Alice, while Queen Celeste tries to hold on to power.
It opens exclusively in theaters on November 25, 2026.
Source: Walt Disney Animation Studios, via Business Wire, 13 November 2026 — https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261112685947/en/Hailee-Steinfeld-Rashida-Jones-Jodie-Foster-and-More-Celebrate-the-Magic-of-Disneys-Hexed-at-the-World-Premiere-in-Los-Angeles