Another Pixar film is skipping theaters in favor of a Disney Plus premiere as Disney announced Turning Red will debut exclusively on its streaming service starting March 11. Disney will still release the movie theatrically in markets where Disney Plus is not available.
Turning Red is the latest movie from Pixar, starring an awkward teenage girl who starts suddenly turning into a giant red panda when she feels strong emotions. The movie is directed by Domee Shi, who also worked on Pixar's Inside Out and Incredibles 2, and directed the Pixar short, Bao.
Disney Media and Entertainment Chairman Kareem Daniel released a statement about the decision, citing the smaller performances of family films at the box office amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions," Daniel said. Daniel also cited the success of previous Pixar movies Disney has debuted directly on the service.
Disney started releasing Pixar movies on Disney Plus at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when the company made Onward available to stream less than a month after its theatrical release. Since then, no Pixar movie has seen a theatrical release, as 2020's Soul debuted exclusively on Disney Plus, as well as last year's Luca following shortly behind.
These movies were streaming at no additional cost, as opposed to live-action films like Mulan and Black Widow, which charged subscribers an additional $30 for Disney Premier Access.
While Disney appears to be happy with how these animated features perform on Disney Plus, Pixar employees are frustrated with the corporate decisions. Last year, a report came out detailing the disappointment within the animation studio.
"We don't want to be a title just on Disney Plus," one Pixar staffer said. "These movies are crafted for the big screen. We want you to watch these movies with no distractions, no looking at your phones." Others worried that not attaching a premium price tag to Luca made the film appear "lesser" than Mulan.
Disney Plus releases or not, Pixar is still releasing solid family films. You can check out our thoughts on their latest efforts in our reviews of Soul and Luca.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Continue reading...
Turning Red is the latest movie from Pixar, starring an awkward teenage girl who starts suddenly turning into a giant red panda when she feels strong emotions. The movie is directed by Domee Shi, who also worked on Pixar's Inside Out and Incredibles 2, and directed the Pixar short, Bao.
Disney Media and Entertainment Chairman Kareem Daniel released a statement about the decision, citing the smaller performances of family films at the box office amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions," Daniel said. Daniel also cited the success of previous Pixar movies Disney has debuted directly on the service.
Disney started releasing Pixar movies on Disney Plus at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when the company made Onward available to stream less than a month after its theatrical release. Since then, no Pixar movie has seen a theatrical release, as 2020's Soul debuted exclusively on Disney Plus, as well as last year's Luca following shortly behind.
These movies were streaming at no additional cost, as opposed to live-action films like Mulan and Black Widow, which charged subscribers an additional $30 for Disney Premier Access.
While Disney appears to be happy with how these animated features perform on Disney Plus, Pixar employees are frustrated with the corporate decisions. Last year, a report came out detailing the disappointment within the animation studio.
"We don't want to be a title just on Disney Plus," one Pixar staffer said. "These movies are crafted for the big screen. We want you to watch these movies with no distractions, no looking at your phones." Others worried that not attaching a premium price tag to Luca made the film appear "lesser" than Mulan.
Disney Plus releases or not, Pixar is still releasing solid family films. You can check out our thoughts on their latest efforts in our reviews of Soul and Luca.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Continue reading...