The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has completely changed the face of the entertainment industry. Video games have been hugely impacted, but so too has movies, with movie theaters the world over closing their doors until the worst of the outbreak passes. As can be expected, this has had a hugely negative impact on the box office returns of movies that hit theaters at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest Disney/Pixar animated film Onward.
Onward, an animated comedy starring Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, has vastly under-performed for a Pixar movie, pulling in just $103.1 million versus its $175-200 million budget. Some have blamed Onward's horrific box office performance on its "politics," but really what has caused Onward to have such a bleak box office haul is the coronavirus and the fact that thousands of theaters have been temporarily closed down.
Similarly to films like Bloodshot, Disney has decided to release Onward digitally early in an attempt to recoup some of its box office loss. As a result, Onward is available through digital on demand platforms starting today, and it will be available on Disney+ beginning April 3. Onward just hit theaters on March 6, so this is an unprecedented turn around from theater to home media when it comes to a Disney/Pixar animated feature film.
Onward hitting Disney+ is easily one of the biggest new additions for the streaming service since The Mandalorian season 1 concluded. The film earned strong reviews from critics and fans alike, sitting at an 87% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive 95% audience score.
Had Onward released at a time when the world wasn't wrestling with the coronavirus pandemic, it would have likely performed significantly better at the box office. After all, Pixar films are consistently some of the top-grossing films each year, with 2019's Toy Story 4 pulling in a staggering $1.073 billion by the end of its box office run. It's unlikely that Onward would have pulled the same numbers as Toy Story 4, but it still would have performed much better than it did.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if the movie industry decides to continue with these digital releases or just delay movies until after the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has passed. Some movies have already been delayed indefinitely, like A Quiet Place 2, and other movies, like F9, have been given new 2021 release dates. Moviegoers should stay tuned for more information.
Onward is now available through digital on demand and will hit Disney+ on April 3.