Soul to make Xmas premiere on Disney+
October 9, 2020
By Nik Roseveare
The Walt Disney Company has announced that Soul, the new original feature from Pixar Animation Studios, will debut exclusively on the Disney+ streaming service on December 25th.
Like Mulan earlier this year, Soul will forego a cinema release in all territories where Disney+ is available. However, unlike Mulan, the movie will not come at any additional charge to Disney+ subscribers. In international markets where Disney+ isn’t currently available, Soul will be released theatrically, with dates to be announced.
“We are thrilled to share Pixar’s spectacular and moving ‘Soul’ with audiences direct to Disney+ in December,” said Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “A new original Pixar film is always a special occasion, and this truly heartwarming and humourous story about human connection and finding one’s place in the world will be a treat for families to enjoy together this holiday season.”
Soul comes from filmmaker Pete Docter, the Academy Award-winning director behind Inside Out and Up and co-director/writer Kemp Powers, playwright and screenwriter of One Night in Miami. It stars the voice talents of Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey, and features original jazz music by renowned musician Jon Batiste and a score composed by Oscar winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
“The world can be an exhausting and frustrating place – but it’s also full of unexpected joys, even in seemingly mundane things,” said Docter, director of Soul and Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Animation Studios. “Soul investigates what’s really important in our lives, a question we’re all asking these days. I hope it will bring some humour and fun to people at a time when everyone can surely use that.”
Soul was previously scheduled for a June 2020 cinema release and then November before being pulled altogether. With studios reluctant to put their tentpole releases into theatres as the pandemic continues to rage, the cinema release schedule is barren. Titles such as Dune, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, James Bond: No Time to Die, F9, Marvel’s Black Widow, A Quiet Place 2, Top Gun: Maverick and Death on the Nile have all been pushed back well into 2021; a trend that caused Cineworld to shutter its cinemas temporarily this week.