Disney has recently decided to try to recoup some theatrical goodwill and box office bucks by releasing some Pixar films in theaters. The ones they chose were the films that went to Disney+ during the pandemic instead of theaters. “Soul” was the first film to hit theaters on Friday and will likely just come in above half a million dollars overall.

The film was only released to about 1350 theaters and brought in $125k on Friday. It is only expected to do about $516k for the entire four-day weekend and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on Monday.

This does not bode well for the other two films that will be released in the next couple of months. “Turning Red” will be released on February 9, and “Luca” will be released on March 22.

It’s not surprising that the re-release did not do well. These films have been available for months or years on Disney+. Many have already seen them. Lately, it’s hard enough getting people to go to theaters for newly released movies, let alone re-released ones.

Over at Pixar, they are facing likely lay-offs and it’s been long reported that the animators were upset that their films didn’t get theatrical releases and were instead relegated to Disney’s streaming service to attract new subscribers or retain current ones. 

Disney needs to turn their box office around, and with the exception of a couple of films, including Pixar’s “Elemental,” and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” their movies are not even breaking even at the theater. 

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Source for box office numbers – Deadline