Tom Holland has mistakenly said his new Pixar film Onward is available on Disney+. Holland stars alongside Chris Pratt in the animated film, which follows two brothers in a suburban fantasy world as they embark on a quest to bring their deceased father back to life for one day. It originally hit theaters on March 6, but struggled at the box office after earning a disappointing $4o million in its opening weekend. Matters weren't helped when, a week later, the coronavirus pandemic began to affect moviegoing in earnest, leading to a massive drop at the US box office.
As the coronavirus outbreak has worsened, movie theaters across the globe have been forced to close their doors to prevent further spread. One bright side is that China, the country where the coronavirus originated from, is set to open its theaters once again. However, theaters remain closed in other countries, forcing many studios to rethink their release strategies. In the cases of films that had recently been released in theaters, like Onward, studios have made them available on-demand earlier than usual. Onward arrived on VOD last Friday and is expected to premiere on Disney+ on April 3.
However, it sounds like Disney didn't inform Holland. In a video posted to his Instagram story, Holland announced Onward is available on Disney+ (via Molly Freeman). His message comes just over a week before the film will actually be made available for Disney+ subscribers. He encouraged fans to watch the film while being stuck inside self-isolating, as many people are looking for new sources of entertainment to keep themselves occupied. You can see his video below:
Onward isn't the only Disney film to be impacted by coronavirus, as several of the studio's upcoming releases have been postponed. These include Mulan, which was supposed to arrive in theaters this week, and Black Widow. Some fans have called for the delayed films to be sent automatically to Disney+, but so far Disney has remained firm in waiting for theatrical releases. Onward's early Disney+ arrival is because of its release having been just before most theaters around the US shut down and likely isn't indicative of other new releases heading to the streamer ahead of time.
Someone will surely tell Holland he's got some bad information, but so far he has yet to correct himself. It won't be much longer until Onward truly is on Disney+ for audiences' viewing pleasure. As of right now though, if fans wish to see Holland as an animated elf, they'll have to check on-demand.
Source: Tom Holland/Instagram (via Molly Freeman/Twitter)