Pixar’s second movie in a row is going straight to streaming.

Last fall, the animation studio’s Soul premiered at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, this summer’s Pixar movie is getting the same treatment, with the announcement today that Luca will instead debut on the Disney+ streaming service on June 18.

Disney announced the news today as part of a broader reshuffling of their summer movie calendar. Curiously, while several of Disney’s would-be blockbusters will premiere in theaters and on Disney+ on the same day with an extra “Premier Access” fee, Luca will not. Disney+ subscribers will be able to stream the film at no additional cost.

The press release describes this decision as “a special offering to kick-off the summer season.” And perhaps Disney found that offering Soul on Disney+ last December — also at no extra cost to subscribers — helped drive up subscription numbers around Christmas. Still, it’s curious that Disney’s demanded an additional $30 in fees to watch their live-action Mulan and their recent Raya and the Last Dragon (and will ask for the same fees to watch Black Widow and Cruella at home later this summer), but not these Pixar titles. It can’t be a matter of quality. Soul was fantastic — better than any of the other movies Disney has slapped the “Premier Access” label on to date.

Here’s Luca’s official synopsis:

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 shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.

And here’s the movie’s movie recent trailer:

Disney’s other updates to their summer schedule today include bumping Cruella to May 28 and Black Widow to July 9, along with the following other changes down the line:

  • “Free Guy” on August 13, 2021
  • “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” on September 3, 2021
  • “The King’s Man” on December 22, 2021
  • “Deep Water” on January 14, 2022
  • “Death on the Nile” on February 11, 2022

Hopefully these are the last changes inflicted on the movie calendar by Covid. (They won’t be, but it’s nice to dream.)

Gallery — Every Pixar Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best:

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