After Mulan, Disney is sending another major film that was intended for theaters straight to streaming instead.
Disney on Thursday announced that Soul, the latest animated movie from Pixar that was scheduled to be released theatrically this November, will skip U.S. theaters and debut on Disney+ on Dec. 25. The film will still get a theatrical release internationally in markets where Disney+ is not available, Variety reports.
This came after Disney previously debuted its live-action remake of Mulan, which had its planned theatrical release postponed numerous times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on Disney+ for an additional $30 fee. This was considered a major experiment in releasing big films at home during the pandemic while theaters aren't reopened everywhere. But Disney won't be repeating the same Mulan release plan with Soul, as according to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will stream on Disney+ for no extra fee. Disney has not revealed how many Disney+ subscribers watched Mulan.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Soul was originally intended to open in theaters in June before being delayed to November. After Christopher Nolan's Tenet, the first major tentpole movie to be released in theaters since the COVID-19 pandemic began, disappointed at the U.S. box office, movie studios have been increasingly delaying films to 2021. The highly anticipated new James Bond film No Time to Die was recently postponed to April 2021 from November 2020, and Regal Cinemas, the second-largest theater chain in America, subsequently announced it will once again close all of its U.S. locations. Disney previously delayed major 2020 films like Marvel's Black Widow to 2021.
The biggest film still scheduled to be released in theaters in 2020 is Wonder Woman 1984, which is slated for Dec. 25. Its director, Patty Jenkins, recently told Reuters that a straight-to-streaming release for the film is not being considered. Jenkins also warned that as a result of the pandemic, "We could lose movie theater-going forever."
-
What to know before turning to AI for financial advicethe explainer It can help you crunch the numbers — but it might also pocket your data
-
Book reviews: 'The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for Relief' and 'Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run'Feature The search for a headache cure and revisiting Springsteen's 'Born to Run' album on its 50th anniversary
-
Keith McNally' 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
