Walt Disney Studios just announced via Twitter that the November release Soul will be skipping cinemas all together and launching via Disney Plus come December 25th.
Remaining international markets without Disney Plus Soul will get an unreleased theatrical launch.
This leaves the only Disney release for 2020 remaining to be Death On The Nile expected in the U.K. on December 18th 2020.
Disney already cancelled the 2020 releases for Black Widow, Death On The Nile (under the Fox banner) for October/November as we reported last month.
Widow has now moved to 2021 and Death On The Nile moved till December later this year.
This news is yet another terrible blow to the cinema industry worldwide. And especially those in the U.K.
Pixar’s Soul Is Coming To Disney Plus
Disney and Pixar’s Soul will be streaming exclusively on Disney+ on December 25th. ✨ #PixarSoul #DisneyPlus pic.twitter.com/n98lZSfAQa
— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) October 8, 2020
Read more: Cineworld Loses £1 Billion Due To COVID-19
The second-largest cinema operator in the world Cineworld closed its doors today temporarily
due to falling admissions since the initial lockdown & studios cancelling releases.
No Time To Die being removed from the November schedule aided massively in the decision to a company that was shelling out $50 million a month to stay open in the current climate.
Vue Cinemas chief Tim Richards spoke to The Guardian earlier this week & noted he wanted to stay open and protect as many staff jobs as possible.
He put the situation bluntly: “We will survive, we just need movies”
With Disney pulling pretty much all support for cinemas across the world since Cinemas reopened in July, and rumours of Wonder Woman 1984 having a streaming launch too, it’s not looking good.
The bottom line is cinemas need content to survive, and large multiplexes, in particular, need mass appealing, big films to survive.
What do you make of this news?
Are you sad to hear that Soul won’t be coming to cinemas, or do you like the idea of watching it on Disney Plus?
Let us know your thoughts on all of this in the comments below.
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