BURBANK, Calif. (March 20, 2020) ?The Walt Disney Studios announced today that Disney and Pixar?s ?Onward? will be available to buy digitally and on Movies Anywhere beginning today at 5:00PM PST/ 8:00PM EST and on Disney+ on April 3 in the U.S.
The film premiered in theaters on March 6 and earned rave reviews from audiences, including a 95% Verified Audience Score on RottenTomatoes. With cinemas currently impacted by closures due to the global health crisis, Disney will offer the film ahead of schedule to purchase on digital platforms in the U.S. beginning today at 5:00PM PST /8:00PM EST for $19.99.
?While we?re looking forward to audiences enjoying our films on the big screen again soon, given the current circumstances, we are pleased to release this fun, adventurous film to digital platforms early for audiences to enjoy from the comfort of their homes,? said Dan Scanlon (Director, ?Onward?) and Kori Rae (Producer, ?Onward?).
In ?Onward,? teenage elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot (voices of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) get an unexpected opportunity to spend one more day with their late dad, embarking on an extraordinary quest aboard Barley?s epic van Guinevere. Like any good quest, their journey is filled with magic spells, cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries. But when the boys? fearless mom Laurel (voice of Julia Louis-Dreyfus) realizes her sons are missing, she teams up with a part-lion, part-bat, part-scorpion, former warrior ? aka The Manticore (voice of Octavia Spencer) ? and heads off to find them. Perilous curses aside, this one magical day could mean more than any of them ever dreamed.
This follows recent moves by Universal to bring in-theatre titles such as Invisible Man, The Hunt and the upcoming Trolls: World Tour to on demand services early as a result of the current pandemic. Warner Bros. has also opted to bring The Way Back to on demand early from theatres and titles Birds of Prey and Just Mercy as well.
What makes this move particularly interesting is that Disney has decided to use Disney+ in their arsenal, as opposed to mere VOD as an outlet. While other studios have options in terms of on demand streaming, Disney already has a significant claim to the home market thanks to their streaming sites.
