Withinthe vague Variety write-upabout a potentialBlack Widowrelease date change, which seems all-but-inevitable given the somewhat disastrous stateside response toTenetand the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the seasonal flu, creating a super-charged twin-demic in coming months, was a morsel that Disney and Pixar’sSoul, the latest film fromUpandInside OutdirectorPete Docter, would be headed to the company’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform Disney+. And, yes, this seems like a very real, viable possibility given the uncertainty of the current situation and Disney’s recent move placing the hotly touted live-actionMulanremake on the service (with a $30 premium) instead of theaters.
OnwardDid Well
SoulIsn’t Going to Make $1 Billion
Everything we’ve seen so far fromSoulmakes it seem like another Pete Docter masterpiece – from its heady concept (about a soul that becomes disembodied from its human and has to go on a cosmic journey to return to life) t0 its warm, affable characters (includingJamie Foxxas the lost soul andTina Feyas 22, a soul that wants nothing to do with earth) to its jaw-dropping visuals depicting “The Great Beyond” and modern-day, Pixarified New York City. And, to be sure, Docter is uniquely gifted in his ability to turn high-concept originals into giant, box office-dominating blockbusters. His first feature, 2001’sMonsters Inc, made almost $600 million worldwide;Upmade more than $700 million andInside Outmade a whopping $858 million. These are huge hits, for sure, and his movies generally make more than other Pixar originals (Inside Outout-grossedCoco, released two years later, by $50 million). But they never threaten to crack the all-important $1 billion number, a feat accomplished by things likeIncredibles 2and last summer’sToy Story 4. $1 billion adds a lot to a company’s bottom line, especially a company like Disney, which had seen major segments of its business shuttered completely during the pandemic. The possibility of a $1 billion gross forBlack Widowhas seemingly kept it from being released on-demand and while that was certainly a goal forMulan, they still managed to figure out how to release it at home for a steep premium. By all accounts,Soulis maybe the weirdest Pixar movie yet.
It Can Still Be Nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar
Docter’s movies have, along with robust box office, been greeted with overwhelming critical adulation (Inside Outhas awhopping 94 on Metacritic). And over the years he has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning two. In fact, in 2001Monsters Incwas nominated for the first-ever Best Animated Feature Oscar (which went to, um,Shrek).UpandInside Outwon the award in their respective years. And he has been nominated for the Best Original Screenplay award for his work onToy Story,WALL•E,UpandInside Out. Not too shabby. And while havingSouldebut digitally would seemingly knock it out of a potential nomination, that isn’t the case, with the Academy deeming movies with an intended theatrical release that had to go the home video route out of necessity, still eligible for nominations. SoSoulcould go on-demand and still win the Best Animated Feature Oscar (both Pixar movies could conceivably be nominated, leading to an adorable animated bloodbath).
The 2021 Calendar Is Filling Up Fast
One of the hard realities, with so many movies shuffled off the 2020 calendar and into next year, is that the release schedule for 2021 is becoming absolutelystuffedwith huge movies. The amount of potential blockbuster titles being unloaded each and every week is almost unfathomable. This is the reality thatMulansaw itself facing down, which led to its release as a premium add-on to Disney+. And the same could be true forSoul, especially considering the limited bandwidth Disney has and all of the other properties it has to release next year (including two Walt Disney Animation Studios movies andanotherPixar film). At some point elegant repositioning becomes a mad scramble. And that wall is ever-tightening.
It’s the First Pixar Film with a Black Main Character
One thing that might be keeping it from going fully on-demand (and for that announcement to be perpetually postponed) is the fact thatSoulis the first Pixar film with a Black lead (Foxx). It would be a bad look to send the first film to feature this kind of diversity to a streaming platform that still has something of a stigma to it, like it’s not “good enough” for even a proposed theatrical exhibition. (This despite, of course, tons of wonderful original movies being released to Disney+ and other streaming giants.) It’s unclear if the optics of this are worrisome enough to keep it off the platform, perpetually waiting for an opportunity in theaters, but it is something to be mindful of. WhereverSoulwinds up debuting, the fact that it has a Black lead is huge, long (l-o-n-g) overdue and very much worth celebrating.
We Might Not Know for a While
Even ifBlack Widowannounces that it has moved from November, it could be a while before a decision is even made regardingSoul. November 20 seems like a long way away, even in our every-day-is-blurring-into-the-next landscape and since prints don’t have to be struck and shipped to theaters, decisions can be made incredibly last minute (the same goes for a digital release). These conversations are certainly happening all the time between Disney and Pixar and it could be weeks before a decision is ultimately made. One thing is for certain: we cannot wait to seeSoul, wherever that might be.
