Pixar's 'Turning Red' ditches theatrical release for Disney+ debut

Pixar's upcoming feature film, Turning Red, will go straight to Disney+, the Walt Disney Co. announced Friday.

Turning Red will premiere exclusively on Disney+ on March 11, the studio said. Kareem Daniel, chairman of distribution for Disney, cited the pandemic and the slower recovery for family films at the box office.

“Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions,” said Daniel in a statement.

The last two Pixar releases, Soul and Luca, also went straight to streaming during the pandemic.

Before that, Onward launched in theaters in early March 2020, just as the pandemic forced theaters closed. It soon after began streaming to Disney+.

Disney describes Turning Red as the story of “a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence.”

Directed by Domee Shi (who made the Pixar short Bao), it’s the first Pixar film helmed solely by a woman. Rosalie Chiang and Sandra Oh lead the voice cast. - AP