There is an entire demographic of previously theatrical moviegoers who are now willing to wait until the latest Disney animated film is « free » on Disney+.
Alas, as frankly feared since the underwhelming Encanto box office grosses over Thanksgiving weekend, Pixar’s Turning Red will not be getting a theatrical release. In territories (including North America), where Disney+ is available, Domee Shi’s original animated feature will skip theaters for a streaming debut. The date won’t change, it’ll still be March 11, 2022. This is the third straight Pixar original to go this route, with Soul debuting on the service on Christmas Day 2020 and Luca debuting online on June 18. To be fair, Encanto barely cracked $200 million worldwide over its global theatrical release, well below the $500-$800 million likes of Ralph Breaks the Internet, Moana and Coco in years past. Pixar’s crowd-pleasing Luca was a regular staple among the most-watched movies list offered up by Nielsen for the entire back half of 2021. Encanto debuted on Disney+ following a mere 31 day window on December 24, and it’s very clear (both in terms of online chatter and in terms of Encanto ’s songs becoming “viral”) that folks were waiting until the big-budget theatrical musical was available “for free” on the platform before watching it.
