Pixar delays Soul's release date to November 2020. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, several Hollywood studios have shifted their upcoming slates, essentially abandoning the summer movie season. Just about every high-profile release planned through the end of July has been rescheduled, as everyone waits to see when it will be safe for theaters to reopen. While some titles have been pushed back a whole year (like Fast and Furious 9), others are banking on things being up and running by the fall/winter (like Black Widow and Top Gun: Maverick).
One of the few original summer 2020 movies to still be hanging on through all of this is Pixar's Soul, which was planned to hit theaters in June (Pixar even released a new trailer in mid-March, the week things started to take a real turn for the worse). But since it's highly unlikely multiplexes will be open by then, everyone expected the film would be delayed. Now, it's officially been moved.
Today, Disney announced Soul will now release on November 20, 2020. Additionally, the Mouse House pushed Raya and the Last Dragon (which was set to debut in November) back to March 2021 and removed an untitled live-action film from their slate.
During the health crisis, it's become increasingly common for studios to bypass traditional theatrical releases in some cases, choosing to release new films on-demand instead. Trolls World Tour just scored the best digital debut of all-time, and other films like The Lovebirds and My Spy will be available on streaming services. Considering how much success Pixar's Onward has found on digital (including an early release on Disney+), some might have been hoping something similar was planned for Soul. However, that was likely never in the cards for Soul. Pixar has traditionally dominated the mid-June theatrical window, evidenced by recent hits like Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2, and Inside Out. The studio definitely had high hopes for Soul, counting on it to be a major box office hit and a possible Oscar contender. There's also the possibility Pixar is unable to complete Soul at the time, similar to Illumination's situation with Minions: The Rise of Gru. Soul may not be ready to be seen until the fall.
Pixar's found success in November before, most recently with 2017's critically-acclaimed Coco ($807 million worldwide), so it stands reason to believe Soul will be a massive draw in that window. Assuming things are back to something resembling normalcy in November, it'll provide audiences with a nice family film to see over the holiday. Soul is now opening a couple of weeks after Black Widow and right before No Time to Die, but that shouldn't have much of an affect on its commercial performance. Soul is going after a different demographic than the aforementioned PG-13 action tentpoles, so as long as it is indeed safe for theaters to reopen in the fall, there should be plenty of business to go around.
Source: Disney
