Disney+’s Soul Beats The Office in Its Streaming Debut

Soul is dominating the streaming rankings; in fact, the Pixar feature film has performed so well in its initial stretch on Disney+, it has already bested a mainstay on the most-streamed lists. According to the latest batch of ratings released by Nielsen, Soul has been the most streamed property of late by logging over 1.6 million minutes of content streamed during its first week on Disney+ over the holidays. It was streamed at least 200,000 minutes more than the second place finisher — NBCUniversal’s The Office.

That’s a notable feat, especially as it’s believed The Office numbers were relatively steady as bingers watched what they could before the workplace sitcom left Netflix. At the end of 2020, The Office jumped over to Peacock, where it quickly found its way to even more television sets than it had during its last week on Netflix.

Though Soul was initially set for a theatrical release like all other Pixar flicks, Disney opted to add the movie to Disney+ at no additional charge to subscribers, unlike its Premiere Access release plan with Mulan or Raya and the Last Dragon. That said, Soul was still released in theaters internationally, where it was currently grossed a sizable $57.4 million.

When ComicBook.com spoke with Soul filmmakers Peter Doctor and Kemp Powers, both seemed to be at ease with Disney’s decision to release the film on streaming.

“I think for me I’ve gone on this interesting journey since the decision was made,” Docter said. “I was like, ah, we made this film for theaters, it was kind of a disappointment but then recognizing that, you know, I was sort of deluding myself somehow to think that when the film came out in theaters, that would mean the pandemic is over. But it’s not over. We’re still in the middle of it. And I think this is the best way to make sure that people get to see it safely with their family and loved ones. So, I think it’s a great thing.”

Powers added, “I mean, we make these movies to be seen, obviously. And among the groups that are most negatively impacted by this pandemic is the group that I’m a part of so it’s a bit of a relief, to not have to ask my family and relatives to literally put themselves in danger, a danger that I wouldn’t subject my own kids to, to go see my work. So, in a very unusual time I think we’ve kind of found ourselves in one of the best possible situations to get this out. Maybe we’ll, in a perfect world, for a lot of young kids, maybe this is going to be their new Christmas tradition.”

Soul is streaming on Disney+ while all nine seasons of The Office are streaming on Peacock. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here. Peacock subscription options are available here.

What else have you been binging of late? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter!

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