Pixar’s Pandemic Era Movies Will Finally Be Released in Theaters

One of the most depressing movie industry stories of the pandemic was the way Pixar, long the most beloved and acclaimed animation studio in the business, saw its movies go from theatrical events to straight-to-streaming content on Disney+. Now, it was not a bad thing that people could watch these movies at home, especially during a pandemic. It was, however, less great that these films received no theatrical release at all, even as Disney began releasing things simultaneously to theaters and to streaming simultaneously like Black Widow or Mulan.

It was even more depressing because Pixar continued to make great stuff all through the pandemic. Soul and Turning Red, in particular, were among the strongest films the studio had made in many years. (They were certainly better than either of the movies Pixar has released to theaters in the last couple years, Lightyear and Elemental.)

In an exciting development, Pixar’s streaming-only movies are finally getting their chance to play on the big screen. Disney and Pixar announced today that a trio of Pixar’s pandemic-era releases — Soul, Turning Red, and Luca, will make their debut in theaters in early 2024. Here’s the trailer announcing the news:

The movies will premiere at a clip of one per month starting in January and continuing through Marc. There’s a poster for the releases as well.

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The films are still available on Disney+ and will reportedly continue to be available on streaming throughout this theatrical run. But getting the chance to see these movies in a theater is a nice treat for Pixar fans. I could see Turning Red being especially enhanced by seeing it on a big screen with lots of other fans, possibly all singing along to the catchy 4*Town songs.

Soul will open in theaters on January 12, 2024. Turning Red follows on February 9. And then Luca arrives in theaters on March 22.

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