Pixar‘s “Soul,” “Turning Red” and “Luca” are coming to theaters after they originally had streaming-only releases on Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The three movies will come to theaters nationwide in 2024, with tickets going on sale Jan. 2. “Soul” is coming to theaters on Jan. 12, “Turning Red” will be on Feb. 9 and “Luca” arrives on March 22. They will be accompanied by the short films “Burrow,” “Kitbull” and “For the Birds,” respectively.
“Soul” (2020) was the first Pixar movie to release exclusively on Disney+ amid the pandemic while most theaters were closed. “Luca” (2021) and “Turning Red” (2022) also debuted on Disney+ the following years. Pete Docter, Pixar‘s creative chief officer, spoke to Variety before the release of the studio’s unexpected hit “Elemental” earlier this year and said that the Disney+ rollouts “trained” families to watch the movies on streaming.
“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 said. “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.”
“Elemental,” released theatrically in June, had a mighty rebound after starting out with the lowest opening weekend in Pixar history ($29.5 million domestically). At first, it seemed like a box office disaster, but the film eventually slow-burned its way to nearly $500 million worldwide. Pixar president Jim Morris told Variety in August that “Elemental” became profitable after its long run.
“We have a lot of different revenue streams, but at the box office we’re looking at now, it should do better than break even theatrically,” he said. “And then we have revenue from streaming, theme parks and consumer products. This will certainly be a profitable film for the Disney company.”
The trio of animated movies will set the stage for Pixar’s next film, “Inside Out 2,” coming to theaters on June 14.