It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the way movies have been released this year and one of the latest examples comes from Pixar’s upcoming movie, Soul. Disney says the new film will skip a major theater release and head straight to the Disney+ streaming service on Dec. 25th.
The film, about an aspiring musician whose soul is suddenly separated from his body after an accident, was set to premiere back in June. But massive theater closures forced Disney to push the release until November before ultimately settling on a December premiere on its streaming service.
And unlike the Premier Access experiment with the live action Mulan, Soul will not require a $30 fee on top of the service’s monthly subscription rate.
It’s been a year of significant upheaval for the movie theater industry, with traditional blockbusters like Tenet, Mulan, and others seeing numerous delays and rescheduling as studios try to cope with running an entertainment business during a pandemic.
And now, with Soul’s move to Disney+, one of the few remaining high-profile films targeting a wide theater release is Wonder Woman 1984, which was recently moved to a Dec. 25th release date.
Of course, we’ll likely see more adjustments and shifted release dates as we head into the holiday season, but we’ll continue to keep you up to date as various new releases look toward streaming service premieres here in 2020.