Disney's Pixar plans to release three of its movies in theaters across the U.S., long after they had streaming debuts on Disney+.
Soul, Turning Red and Luca will be released domestically on January 12, February 9, and March 22, respectively. The move comes after the COVID-19 pandemic created a trend of animated projects being released to streaming subscribers amid movie theater closures.
In 2020, Soul debuted on Disney+ at the height of the pandemic, followed by Luca in 2021 and Turning Red in 2022. The release of the films will follow the unexpected summer success of Elemental, which earned $154.4 million at the domestic box office and an additional $341.5 million internationally, according to Box Office Mojo.
In an interview days before Elemental's June release, Pixar's creative chief officer Pete Docter said that the string of streaming debuts had "trained" audiences to expect movies to premiere on Disney+.
"In the long run, there's been a bit of a mixed blessing because we've trained audiences that these films will be available for you on Disney+," Docter told Variety. "And it's more expensive for a family of four to go to a theater when they know they can wait and it'll come out on the platform.
"We're trying to make sure people realize there's a great deal you're missing by not seeing it on the big screen. In the case of Elemental, it's a beautiful spectacle, there's detail everywhere. I think you feel it more and it's a better experience.
"There's the shared experience as well, that you get to see it in a room with strangers, and there's something about the energy that comes from other people that makes the whole experience more vibrant and interesting."
The decision for Pixar to release Soul, Turning Red and Luca theatrically follows a disappointing year for Disney. Animated musical-comedy Wish underperformed dismally, earning $19.6 million in its opening weekend last month. In the weeks since, the movie has trudged on to a domestic total of $42.6 million. Internationally, the film has earned $39.7 million, bringing the global total up to $82.4 million.
Disney and Pixar have released seven animated movies in November over the past 25 years, according to figures compiled by David A. Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research, a movie consultancy. Of these, Encanto previously had the lowest three-day opening at $27.2 million. Still, Wish fell considerably under that figure.
Marvel Studios, which is Disney's most valuable property, has had its worst year at the box office since 2014, not counting 2020, when none of its movies were released due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Per figures from Box Office Mojo, Marvel's $1.51 billion earned at the box office this year is the lowest total since 2014, when the studio pulled in $1.49 billion. However, Marvel released two films in 2014, while there have been three this year.
The Marvels, which debuted on November 10, has been something of a flop at the domestic box office, with an opening weekend of $47 million—far under the already lowered expectations of $60 million. It marked the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) lowest-ever opening weekend.
Domestic earnings for the movie, which sees Brie Larson reprise her role as Captain Marvel, currently stand at $76.7 million, while it has pulled in $188.7 million internationally. Preceding its release was the recently concluded actors' strike, which prohibited stars from promoting their films.
The earnings pale in comparison to Captain Marvel which made $153.4 million during its opening weekend in 2019 before amassing $1.13 billion worldwide upon its release.
In a statement shared by Variety, Disney announced on Sunday that it would no longer be reporting the movie's global box office takings.
Larson notably debuted as Captain Marvel one month before The Avengers: Endgame's premiere—at the height of the Disney-owned studio's success—a critical juncture for the MCU's Thanos-centric storyline. Endgame felt like the end of an era, making the Captain Marvel release all the more important.
And it might not be the quality of the film, which has received several positive reviews, that affected the box-office performance, but rather an emerging trend for Marvel movies.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania came out in February and made $467 million worldwide, a relatively paltry amount compared to other MCU movies. Marvel currently has four movies in the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time globally.
Some analysts have blamed superhero fatigue and internal issues at Marvel for the recent box-office performances.
"Familiarity breeds contempt and when Marvel was only putting out two to three movies per year, fans were much more excited to see the next one in theaters because of all the months of anticipation between films," Marvel mega fan Chris "Supafly" Markland told Newsweek in early November.
He said Marvel's downturn could be attributed to "a death by a thousand cuts," and "pumping out" content so quickly there's less quality control than before.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
