The Walt Disney Company saw their Pixar animated film Soul perform extremely poorly at domestic theaters as the first of three straight-to-streaming films they were releasing to theaters this year.
In Disney and Pixar’s “Soul,” a middle-school band teacher finds himself in The Great Before—a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks and interests before they go to Earth. Unfortunately, Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) doesn’t feel like he belongs in this land of new souls. Determined to return to his life, he teams up with a precocious soul, 22 (voice of Tina Fey), who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. Directed by Academy Award® winner Pete Docter, co-directed by Kemp Powers and produced by Academy Award® nominee Dana Murray, p.g.a., “Soul” will debut exclusively on Disney+ (where Disney+ is available) on December 25, 2020. ©2020 Disney/Pixar. All rights reserved.
Exhibiter Relations Co. reported the animated film only grossed $125,000 on Friday night after being available in 1,350 theaters.
Soulsucker.
Pixar’s “release” of SOUL in over 1,350 theaters yesterday earned just $125k on Friday.
Disney must look deep inside and meditate upon this truth: no one is going to these in theaters because they’ve been streaming on D+ for years…TOY STORY these are not.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) January 13, 2024
READ: Worst Performing Pixar Films of All Time
The-Numbers reports the film grossed a total of $560,000 between January 12th and January 15th. Specifically, the film grossed $125,000 on Thursday, $170,000 on Friday, $142,000 on Sunday, and an estimated $123,000 on Monday.
Daily Box Office grosses for Soul via The-Numbers
These numbers are abysmal and seemingly show that the films might not be that popular at all.
For comparison, The Walt Disney Company rereleased The Return of the Jedi to theaters last year. The film grossed $7.2 million. However, it was only released in 475 theaters and its per theater gross was an astounding $15,284.
Similarly, Warner Bros. released The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to theaters last year as well. It grossed $1.1 million. It was released to 1,107 theaters and had per theater gross of $1,062.
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition (2003), Warner Bros. Pictures
Ironically, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter explained he believes releasing this film alongside Turning Red and Luca will deepen the films’ popularity.
He said, “Well, I hope so. I’m old enough to remember a time before home video, before streaming, and the only chance you had to see a film like a Pinocchio or One Hundred and One Dalmatians was when it came out every couple of years in theaters. Even though I’d seen them before, it was always just a great new experience to go see these movies.”
“I think people will see things that they didn’t even notice. You see it on the big screen and you’re like, ‘Whoa, the detail there, that’s crazy.’ There’s just a lot to see in those movies,” he continued.
Docter concluded, “And, you know, as we’re working on these movies, we’re watching the same movie for years, so it’s packed with all sorts of inside jokes and details. There’s just a lot to see.”
In Disney and Pixar’s “Soul,” Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) is a middle-school band teacher whose true passion is playing jazz. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks and interests before they go to Earth. Globally renowned musician Jon Batiste provides the original jazz compositions and arrangements for the film and Oscar®-winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from Nine Inch Nails compose the score that drifts between the real and soul worlds. “Soul” will debut exclusively on Disney+ (where Disney+ is available) on December 25, 2020. ©2020 Disney/Pixar. All rights reserved.
Soul’s atrocious box office performance comes amid a report that Pixar will be laying off around 20% of its employees throughout the year.
Tech Crunch’s Sarah Perez reported, “Sources at the company said the layoffs would be significant and as high as 20% — or reductions that would see Pixar’s team of 1,300 dropped to less than 1,000 over the coming months.”
However, Perez shared that “Pixar says those numbers are too high. Rather, the studio said the number of impacted employees is still being determined due to factors like production schedules and staffing for future greenlit films.”
In Disney and Pixar’s “Soul,” a middle-school band teacher named Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) makes one small misstep which takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before—a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks and interests before they go to Earth and where he meets a precocious soul, 22 (voice of Tina Fey). Directed by Academy Award® winner Pete Docter, co-directed by Kemp Powers and produced by Academy Award® nominee Dana Murray, p.g.a., “Soul” will debut exclusively on Disney+ (where Disney+ is available) on December 25, 2020. ©2020 Disney/Pixar. All rights reserved.
Exhibitor Relations believes the poor box office performance will force Disney and Pixar to change how they will release Turning Red and Luca and even speculates they might not get released at all due to the PR they could receive.
“This will certainly change the way Disney releases TURNING RED and LUCA—if they get a release at all,” Exhibitor Relations noted. “Likely will not be as wide since this is just more negative press for the House of Mouse. Something they really don’t need right now…”
This will certainly change the way Disney releases TURNING RED and LUCA—if they get a release at all. Likely will not be as wide since this is just more negative press for the House of Mouse. Something they really don’t need right now…
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) January 13, 2024
In a later post, Exhibitor Relations noted the release of Soul “does nothing for theaters & actually harms the Disney brand. As if they needed more bad press after ‘23. Would be surprised if theaters even booked TURNING RED and LUCA.”
The account added, “Great that Disney made the “effort”—however they certainly didn’t seem to have a P/A budget—but the truth is audiences want *new* films. Re-releases should be for films that have earned the distinction, aging like a fine wine or becoming a cult classic. That takes time.”
Great that Disney made the “effort”—however they certainly didn’t seem to have a P/A budget—but the truth is audiences want *new* films. Re-releases should be for films that have earned the distinction, aging like a fine wine or becoming a cult classic. That takes time.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) January 15, 2024
What do you make of Soul’s disastrous box office performance?
