Pixar’s latest movie, Luca, will skip a theatrical release and will be available to stream on Disney+, but do you have to pay to watch it? The coronavirus pandemic was a big shake-up to the entertainment industry, with many productions shutting down temporarily and studios having to reorganize their schedules as cinemas around the world had to close. Many movies were delayed multiple times in hopes that they could be released in theaters once it’s safe to attend these, while others were sent to different streaming platforms so the audience wouldn’t miss them. Such is the case of Pixar’s Luca, which played it safe by skipping theaters.
Luca is a coming-of-age movie directed by Enrico Casarosa and set in the Italian Riviera between the 1950s and the 1960s. It tells the story of Luca Paguro (Jacob Tremblay), a 13-year-old sea monster boy with the ability to assume human form while on land. Although he's been warned that the human world is a dangerous place, he longs for something beyond his quiet farm life in the sea, so when his new best friend Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) takes him to explore Portorosso, Luca experiences a life-changing summer as his eyes open up to a whole world of possibilities.
Luca joined the long list of movies affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as it was originally planned to be released in theaters on June 18, 2021, but in March, Disney announced the cancellation of its theatrical release and sent it straight to Disney+. Following the steps of Pixar’s previous project, Soul, Luca will be available to stream for subscribers and won’t be on Premier Access. In addition to this, Luca will play for one week at Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre from June 18-24, and it will hit theaters in countries where Disney+ is not available yet, though release dates for that are yet to be announced.
Disney has two ways of releasing movies on its streaming platform: either they are free to stream or they are sent to Premier Access. In the latter’s case, subscribers have to pay an extra fee to “unlock” the movie and can watch it as many times as they please after that. Movies like Mulan, Raya and the Last Dragon, Cruella, and soon Black Widow have also been released on Disney+ but through Premier Access, so those who didn’t want to or couldn’t pay the extra fee had to wait a couple of weeks for them to be available to stream for all and for free. It’s worth noting that both Pixar projects haven’t been released on Premier Access, perhaps in an attempt to make them more accessible to their target audience, but all subscribers will surely be glad they won’t have to pay to watch Luca as soon as it drops.
Although there has been some controversy over Luca’s release, as Pixar employees have criticized this move, releasing Luca on Disney+ without extra cost will draw a bigger audience than having it on Premier Access or just in theaters. However, this new model is still in its early stages, so Luca will help the studio measure if it works or if they have to rethink their strategy.
