As COVID cases continue to spike in the US, movie studios are forced to make decisions about upcoming theatrical releases. Despite movies like Spider-Man No Way Home and Scream continues to crush at the box office, Disney has decided to release their latest flick Turning Red on Disney+, instead of in theaters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pixar employees are feeling disappointment over the decision.
“Everyone is really bummed, but most of us get it. Families just aren’t going to the movies,” an insider says. As many young kids are still unable to be vaccinated, many families with children under five are staying in instead of going out.
Turning Red is the third Pixar movie to be released straight to streaming over the last two years. Both Soul and Luca were released in 2020 and 2021, respectively. “We were told that Soul brought a ton of subscribers to Disney+. Luca started off slower but essentially did the same,” says the Pixar source.
The movie, which stars Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Hyein Park, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho and James Hong, is the first Pixar movie to be directed solely by a female director. It follows a young girl who turns into a red panda when she is experiencing intense emotions.
The next Pixar release is the Toy Story spinoff, Lightyear, which is expected to hit theaters this summer. Of course, as we all know, release dates can change often.
