There is no point in re-releasing a 2-year-old animated movie that can conveniently be streamed at the comfort of your own home. Disney is quickly finding that out.
Pixar’s “Turning Red” was re-released in over 1600 locations this weekend and the result is that it’ll be making a little over $500,000 over 3 days. The $343 per theater average is only $23 better than last month’s “Soul” re-release. These are terrible numbers.
In case you’re unaware, Pixar started the theatrical re-releasing of its straight to Disney+ pandemic movies last month with “Soul”. The Pixar re-releases could be seen as symbolic gestures to the creatives involved in making these movies, but I’m sure Disney expected some better returns.
Obviously, Pixar should have never sent these films to streaming, it watered down their brand. Last year, Disney CEO Bob Iger admitted regrets in dumping the Pixars to streaming during the pandemic. However, the plan to put a theatrical stamp on them doesn’t seem to be working. “Luca” is the last one that’ll be getting the re-release treatment — it’s set to hit theaters on March 22.