Disney Eyeing a Longer Theatrical Window for Animated Releases in Hopes to Lure Families Back to the Theatre
It’s been a weird few years for movies, theaters, streaming services, and the content created at studios. When we were plunged into the pandemic in 2020, movie theaters were closed down, and we started consuming an unprecedented amount of streamable content. It was a huge delight when movies and shows made their On Demand debuts in 2020 and 2021, as we weren’t quite back to our old viewing habits. And even now, some have been slower to returning to the theater, and some not at all. This was reflected in the animated Disney movies released in 2022, Pixar’s Lightyear underperformed, and Disney Animation’s Strange World outright bombed. Encanto seemed to hold its own, but Disney is still taking a hard look at their release strategy to see how their numbers can be improved.
In a recent report from The Hollywood Reporter, the outlet reports that Disney is looking at a two-pronged strategy moving forward. One is that they’ve just announced three new sequels to $1 billion brands — Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia, which is sure to get fans back in the seats, and also, there is talk of longer theatrical windows for Elemental (June 16) and Disney Animation’s Wish (Nov. 22) in hopes of luring families back to theaters.
The longer theatrical release means the longer people will have to wait before they see these new titles appear on Disney+. While we were treated to quick Disney+ turnarounds during the last few years, the studio will be pushing those dates further back in the hopes to get the best revenues from theatre ticket sales.
We are a movie theater family, so we love to go see the latest Disney and Marvel movies on the big screen, but this is a bit of a bummer for families with limited funds or mobility issues. I hope there will be a happy medium, like maybe the movies will still be available to rent soon after theatrical releases.
Whatever things look like moving forward, I’m just glad to see movies returning to the big screen. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got tickets to go see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania!