Inside Out 2, the sequel to the beloved animated film, shows the emotions of 13-year-old Riley’s mind. For Pixar, this upcoming release marks a critical test of their new strategy: ensuring their movies have a lengthy exclusive run in theaters before becoming available on Disney+.
According to Pixar president Jim Morris, Inside Out 2 will have a theatrical run of at least 100 days.
This is a significant shift from recent releases like Lightyear and Elemental, which had shorter theatrical windows before heading to Disney+. Lightyear, released in 2022, waited 47 days, while Elemental, released in 2023, waited 89 days.
During the pandemic, Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s decision to release three Pixar films—Soul, Luca, and Turning Red—directly on Disney+ may have conditioned audiences to expect Pixar movies to premiere on streaming platforms.
However, these movies only received theatrical releases earlier this year.
Morris expressed a desire for future Pixar feature films to be exclusively released in theaters, with Disney+ reserved for series like the upcoming Win or Lose, debuting later this year, and the Inside Out spinoff series, Dream Productions, set for 2025.
Pete Docter, Pixar’s chief creative officer and director of Soul, acknowledged that the decision to release some movies on streaming was made due to theater closures during the pandemic. He emphasized that Pixar’s movies are intended for the big screen experience.
