International theater owners, starved for films to play in their significantly safer non-American cinemas, lament Disney's decision to dump Soul directly onto Disney+. The film was initially supposed to premiere in June but was then delayed to November. Now, Disney has decided to cut their losses and release Soul on Disney+ this Christmas.
Per Variety, in a statement from the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), theater owners have expressed their disappointment in Disney's decision to release Soul on Disney+. Additionally, the film will only reach theaters in countries where Disney+ is not an option. UNIC calls it "a distributor delivering another blow" to their industry. Read the most important bulk below:
The vast majority of cinemas across Europe and indeed many regions of the World are now open and able to offer a safe and enjoyable return for audiences. Cinema operators have invested massively in offering the safest possible experience to their audiences on the basis of a promising schedule of new film releases. Yet again, however, they find a distributor delivering another blow. The decision on Soul is doubly frustrating for operators who were counting on the release after the film was previewed at a number of key European film festivals.
The statement explains how dangerous these decisions are for international cinemas, and how the blowback will eventually catch up to the studios choosing to skip theaters. The fact that American pandemic containment is noticeably behind most other countries makes releasing films in theaters a high-risk decision, as evidenced by Tenet's significantly split numbers and overall loss of millions.
Disney has opted not to take the risk this time, and Soul will be available for free immediately. European cinemas are a reasonably safe bet right now, but they have absolutely nothing to play because of the lack of an American market. A big Pixar release might have been enough to bring out the viewers, but the UNIC will have to hold out a little longer.
Source: UNIC via Variety
