Disney+ Turning Red (Pixar) (2022) (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

Errrr, yes the character was white. You appear to be confusing race with nationality. Two very different things.

Okay. I'll say I stand corrected on that, because I don't want to get into that mess again. Anyway, regardless of my earlier statement, I think Disney is turning Pixar into a second tier feeder for D+. They are eventually going to become nothing more than the D+ equivalent of Disney television animation, albeit maybe with more substantial budgets.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I feel bad for the people who worked on the film. I know if I had worked on a film that I thought was going to get a wide release in theaters and ended up being distributed by the modern-day equivalent of "straight to video", I'd be very disappointed.

 

[Sam Posten]

Sending Pixar Films Directly To Disney+ Isn’t A Bad Thing | What's On Disney Plus

https://youtu.be/pjt-P63awqU This past Friday, Disney announced that the upcoming Pixar animated movie, "Turning Red", will be coming to Disney+ on Friday 11th March 2022. In the statement from Disney's Media & Entertainment Distribution chairman Kareem Daniel, explained why the move was...

whatsondisneyplus.com

 

[TravisR]

According to that article, the movie would have underperformed at the box office due to the pandemic but there's not much evidence to back that up. Spider-Man and Sing 2 (a movie with the same exact market) are still doing excellent business right in the middle of a huge outbreak. Ill-advised or not, people are going back to theaters if they want to see the movie and Pixar movies are ones that will get a family to come to a theater so underperformance is highly unlikely. Even if the virus gets worse by March and more theaters get shut down, they could have just moved the release date rather than relegating it to Disney +.

 

[Robert Crawford]

According to that article, the movie would have underperformed at the box office due to the pandemic but there's not much evidence to back that up. Spider-Man and Sing 2 (a movie with the same exact market) are still doing excellent business right in the middle of a huge outbreak. Ill-advised or not, people are going back to theaters if they want to see the movie and Pixar movies are ones that will get a family to come to a theater so underperformance is highly unlikely. Even if the virus gets worse by March and more theaters get shut down, they could have just moved the release date rather than relegating it to Disney +.

No, Sing 2 isn't the same exact market. Yes, it has singing in it, but the movie is geared towards youngsters.

Never mind as I misread your post.

 

[Malcolm R]

COVID, the one-size-fits-all excuse/justification for everything. Some must be hoping the pandemic never goes away, as they'd have to come up with some other creative reasons for questionable decisions.

I want to hear what Pixar staff think, if they're able to speak freely without some Disney PR enforcer over their shoulder. Justification by some lifelong Disney shill spouting the same weasel words as the mouse house isn't convincing, IMO.

If Disney is truly dedicated to bringing Pixar films to the biggest audience, they can broadcast them on ABC so they're available to everyone nationwide.

 

[TravisR]

No, Sing 2 isn't the same exact market. Yes, it has singing in it, but the movie is geared towards youngsters.

You don't think a Pixar movie is geared towards youngsters too? I certainly planned on seeing this theatrically but it's not like there would have been a ton of other single white guys in their 40's there. The majority of the people that would have seen Turning Red would have been kids and their parents which is exactly like Sing 2.

 

[Robert Crawford]

You don't think a Pixar movie is geared towards youngsters too? I certainly planned on seeing this theatrically but it's not like there would have been a ton of other single white guys in their 40's there. The majority of the people that would have seen Turning Red would have been kids and their parents which is exactly like Sing 2.

Sorry, I misread your post!

 

[Tommy R]

I saw the preview for this when I took my kids to see Clifford not long ago, and it looks like it’ll be a really charming movie. I would have taken the kids to the theater to see it, but I can’t say I’m too disappointed at it being straight to Disney+. It’ll save me money. As a movie theater lover I have mixed feelings about that BEING my reaction to it going straight to streaming, but it is what it is.

 

[Edwin-S]

I'll believe all that Disney propaganda re straight to D+ versus theatrical releases when they have their Marvel unit release a film meant for theatrical release straight to D+ without a theatrical window. "In the Mouth of Madness" would be a good start. Like that will ever happen.

Edit: That should have been "Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness". As Homer Simpson would say...."doh".

 

[Jake Lipson]

Movie theaters are still allowing simultaneous or very short window releases. Even though Warner Bros. is contractually committed to a 45-day theatrical window this year, Universal is putting Marry Me on Peacock the same day as theaters next month. Sing 2 is now out on demand after 17 days of theatrical exclusivity. Encanto got 30 days of theatrical exclusivity before Disney+. I don't think anyone was expecting Turning Red to have a particularly long theatrical window, but Disney could have chosen to do a small one. Or they could have done a simultaneous release as they did with a few movies last year. The only other big movie in March is Batman. If Disney went to theaters and said, "We want to put the film on Disney+, do you want to show a simultaneous release or not?", I suspect that most theaters would have agreed to play it. Disney is not giving them that choice, which says to me that this is more about promoting Disney+ than anything else.

 

[Jake Lipson]

According to this chart, Luca was the #1 most watched movie on streaming services in 2021. And Soul was #7.

‘Lucifer’ Tops ‘Squid Game’ On Nielsen 2021 Original Series Chart In U.S., ‘Luca’ Is No. 1 Movie

"Lucifer" Tops "Squid Game" On Nielsen 2021 Original Series Chart In U.S., "Luca" Is No. 1 On Yearly Movie List

deadline.com

Given that level of success, in combination with the instability of the theatrical market right now, it isn't really surprising that Disney is planning to use the same release strategy for Turning Red.

 

[Jake Lipson]

A new ad:

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Still think it's ridiculous that Disney won't run this theatrically.

And I genuinely don't understand the decision. I guess they don't have confidence that audiences will flock to it.

But do they really believe it'll earn them more money as an enticement to join/maintain Disney+ than it would as a theatrical release?

I can't imagine that's the case. If they don't think people will buy movie tickets, why would those same people sign up for D+ to see it?

Yeah, I get that they save on some marketing costs, but I still have to imagine there's more $$$ to be earned with a theatrical run and then D+ 2 months later than just D+.

I'm just tired of Pixar movies get shuffled off the D+ and not running theatrically...

 

[Ross Gowland]

If they don't think people will buy movie tickets, why would those same people sign up for D+ to see it?

Encanto did fairly lukewarm business theatrically but has been a huge draw on D+. Maybe they think that skipping the cinema release makes sense in this case.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Encanto did fairly lukewarm business theatrically but has been a huge draw on D+. Maybe they think that skipping the cinema release makes sense in this case.

But doesn't think make the case for both theatrical and D+?

"Encanto" made $237m WW, which ain't bad for COVID days.

If it's so popular on D+, that shows that the theatrical release didn't damage its appeal there.

Why not make some theatrical $ and then reap the D+ benefits?

That's what I don't get. What's the harm in doing both? Does Disney think "Turning Red" will make more in new D+ subscriptions or renewals than it would theatrically?

 

[Malcolm R]

Disney seems to be punishing Pixar for some reason. Since the pandemic began, every Pixar film has gone directly to D+ while Disney Animation films go into theaters where they don't perform particularly well. Encanto has done $94 million domestic vs. Illumination's Sing 2 which is nearing $144 million ($310 million worldwide).

You can't convince me that the Pixar films would not do equally well or better in theaters than DA's titles. Yes, the last Pixar theatrical release stumbled (Onward), but that was released at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, and can hardly be used as a barometer.

 

[TravisR]

The good news is that this time, everyone noticed and questioned why Disney is dumping Pixar movies to Disney + so I don't think they can do it again.

 

[jayembee]

We know that even if it had had a theatrical window, it would have landed on Disney+ next summer anyway. The people who were going to skip buying a theater ticket for this are just going to get it faster than they would have with a theatrical window first.

(Raises hand)

My wife and I have skipped most theatrical releases in 2021. The only ones we went to were Black Widow, Dune, and Eternals. In that last case, we were the only ones in the auditorium (it was at the end of its theatrical run). (And, yes, we never got around to seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home.)

With certain exceptions, I'm fine with skipping a theatrical release these days. If there are some films that my wife is not interested in, I might be willing to go by myself (still haven't made up my mind about The Batman), but while Covid is still around pre-endemic, we'll only go to the theater if it's something we really, really want to see on the big screen.

I'm rather surprised by this thread and the one for Batgirl having so many comments to the effect that bypassing theatrical for streaming is the modern equivalent of direct-to-video.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm rather surprised by this thread and the one for Batgirl having so many comments to the effect that bypassing theatrical for streaming is the modern equivalent of direct-to-video.

I understand why movie fans who love to see movies on the big screen (of which I am certainly one) would think that. But I usually disagree with it for reasons already discussed here and in the Batgirl thread.

I am being very selective about what I choose to go see right now. Because it is a Pixar film, I would have gone to see Turning Red in a theater if Disney had chosen to release it there. But I'm not going to think less of the movie at home than I would at the theater.