Disney seems to be in the mood to bring back their audiences to the cinema. Their next animated film from Pixar Inside Out 2 is reportedly all set to have an exclusive 100-day theatrical window before it debuts on streaming. The president of Pixar recently mentioned that the company wants to re-train audiences from expecting the films at home sooner.
This would be the highest theatrical window for Pixar in the recent past as their post-pandemic releases Lightyear and Elemental had shorter windows. The animation studio released three of their most anticipated films on Disney Plus during the pandemic, which they reportedly hope to move away from.
Disney Confirms A 100-Day Theatrical Window For Inside Out 2
Almost a decade after the successful original, Disney is all set to release Pixar’s Inside Out 2 on June 14. The film sees Riley as a teenager who experiences new emotions such as Anxiety, Ennui, and Envy, creating an imbalance in the smooth running of her mind. The film sees Amy Poehler return as Joy and also features Ayo Edibri, Maya Hawke, and more.
Pixar’s President confirmed to Bloomberg News that the film would be released in cinemas with a 100-day theatrical window before it gets a digital release. This comes at a time when most films tend to have a smaller exit strategy from theaters to streaming in case the film does not do well at the cinemas.
90 days was standard a few years back. This is a sign of confidence in the film
— Jason Valencia (@JasonValenc) June 2, 2024
Well finally a reasonable one if you want cinemas to survive 👏
— Box Office Forecast 🎬 (@BoxOfficeFcst) June 1, 2024
Thank you @Pixar, @Disney, @RobertIger. pic.twitter.com/ngbVsnvesG
— ⛉⚔ ᵂⁱᴿᵉᴰ•ᵁˢᴰ ⚔⛊ 🧶 (@Xx_WiReD_xX) June 1, 2024
Hey @TheFallGuyMovie,
— Ap̵͈̘̌̒͝e̵̥̣̪̠̩̍͑̊̈́̌̒͗̄͌̋ of Aŕ̶̞̂̔͑͌͂̅͝abia 🇸🇦 (@MeshalAS87) June 1, 2024
This how it should be done.
LONG LIVE MOVIE THEATRES !#LongLiveAMC 🦍✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/aPsQpLqDUr
That means they trust this movie enough to get 3 months+ worth of theatrical release, not every movie does that nowadays
— Timmy 💀 (@tim1796) June 2, 2024
Why is everyone freaking out this is over 3 months. A very normal theatrical run. Better than most recently, really
— ethyl (@BarkOnTheEth) June 1, 2024
This is also the highest window for a Pixar release in the recent past. Pixar’s last film Elemental reportedly had an 89-day theatrical window while Lightyear had almost half of Inside Out 2 window. These came after Pixar’s last three releases were pushed to streaming during the pandemic resulting in heavy losses.
Pixar President Jim Morris mentioned to Bloomberg about wanting to bifurcate their releases from streaming and theatricals,
I hope that we will not release another feature film on Disney+. If we do more stuff for Disney+, it should be a series, and then that makes a clean demarcation between what we do for theaters and what we do for streaming.
The legendary animation studio had released its films Soul, Luca, and Turning Red directly on streaming due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Disney Hopes To Retrain Audiences to Come To The Cinemas
With the 100-day theatrical window for Pixar’s Inside Out 2, Disney sends a message of their confidence in the film. Studios tend to look for an early exit strategy in case the film does not do enough box office numbers. The latest example of the same is Ryan Gosling’s action film The Fall Guy which got a digital release just 18 days after release.
However, with Inside Out 2, Pixar and Disney seem to be on the road to retrain audiences to come back to the theatres and not expect their films to be available at home very soon. In 2023, Soul and Elemental director Pete Docter spoke about how streaming has been a boon and a bane for the studio. He told Variety,
In the long run, there’s been a bit of a mixed blessing because we’ve trained audiences that these films will be available for you on Disney+. And it’s more expensive for a family of four to go to a theater when they know they can wait and it’ll come out on the platform.
Docter also mentioned how the studio had made films like Soul and Elemental for the big screen and packed them with details that are best enjoyed on large screens. He mentioned that they wanted to attract the viewers and show them what they were missing out on.
