Three Pixar Movies Heading to Theaters for the First Time

Pixar's Soul, Turning Red, and Luca are coming to theaters after debuting on Disney+.

By Cameron Bonomolo

Inside Out 2 isn't the only Pixar movie coming to theaters in 2024. Disney announced Tuesday that Pixar's Soul (2020), Luca (2021), and Turning Red (2022) — three movies that skipped theaters and debuted on Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic — will hit the big screen nationwide for the first time. In a release, the studio said the Pixar special theatrical engagement invites moviegoers to experience the sent-to-streaming movies "the way they were meant to be seen" — on the big screen — before the Inside Out sequel premieres exclusively in theaters on June 14.

Soul, Turning Red, and Luca were all slated for theaters before being sent to streaming on Disney+. The three movies did have limited international releases in markets without Disney+, but 2022's Lightyear was Pixar's first theatrical-exclusive release since Onward in 2020.

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Like Pixar theatrical experiences of the past, a Pixar animated short film will play before each feature: Pixar SparkShort Burrow (Soul), SparkShort Kitbull (Turning Red), and classic Pixar short For the Birds (Luca). Tickets for all three movies go on sale January 2.

Soul (in theaters January 12, 2024)

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What is it that makes you...YOU? Pixar Animation Studios' Soul, Oscar winner for best animated feature film, introduces Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) – a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. 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. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22 (voice of Tina Fey), who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. As Joe desperately tries to show 22 what's great about living, he may just discover the answers to some of life's most important questions. 

Directed by Academy Award winner Pete Docter (Inside Out, Up), co-directed by Kemp Powers (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and produced by Academy Award winner Dana Murray, p.g.a. (Pixar short Lou), Disney and Pixar's Soul also won the Oscar for best achievement in music written for motion picture (original score by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste), as well as Golden Globes for best motion picture—animated and best original score—motion picture (Reznor, Ross, Batiste), and GRAMMY for best score soundtrack for visual media (Reznor, Ross, Batiste).

Turning Red (in theaters February 9, 2024)

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Disney and Pixar's Turning Red introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother's dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren't enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she "poofs" into a giant red panda! 

Directed by Academy Award winner Domee Shi (Pixar short Bao) and produced by Lindsey Collins (Finding Dory), Turning Red was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature film, as well as a Golden Globe for best motion picture—animated.

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Luca (in theaters March 22, 2024)

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Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar's original feature film Luca is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay) shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, Alberto (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer), but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water's surface. 

Directed by Academy Award nominee Enrico Casarosa (La Luna) and produced by Andrea Warren (Lava, Cars 3), Luca was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature film and a Golden Globe for best motion picture—animated.

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