‘Inside Out 2’ is going to be a great bet for Pixar after its latest setbacks.
The last years They haven’t been easy at Pixar. ‘Soul’, ‘Luca’ and ‘Red’, three of the best films that the studio has left us recently, ended up going directly to streaming due to the pandemic.
And ‘Lightyear’ and ‘Elemental’ did not work very well in theaters, although the latter did end up having wheels and raised some head. But still, Pixar also took its hit and its wave of layoffs and cuts.
All at once?
So, now the big bet from the studio seems to be ‘Inside Out 2’, the sequel to the 2015 film that premieres on June 19. AND Pete Docterthe creative head of the studio and director of the original ‘Inside Out’, is well aware of what is at stake.
“If this one doesn’t do well in theaters, I think it means we’re going to have to think even more radically about how we run our business,” Docter told TIME.
Pixar’s last two bets have not worked as well as expected, but according to Docter they always try to find a balance between sequels and new stories. Although yes’Inside out 2‘ ends up hitting them a setback, The director recognizes that they are going to have to radically rethink how to run the studio.
“Part of our strategy is to balance our production with more sequels. It’s complicated. Everyone says…why don’t you do more original things? But when we do, people don’t go to see them because they’re not familiar with them,” Docter admits. “With sequels, people think… Oh, I’ve seen this before. I know I like it. That’s why sequels are so valuable.”
“It’s a little cynical to say that people want to see things they know, but I think even with original things, that’s what we try to do,” the director added. “We’re trying to find something that people feel like they’ve experienced…Understanding and recognizing something as a truth in their lives. That’s been getting harder (…) We’re still looking, but it’s been harder and harder now that we’re on our 28th movie or so.”
Docter has also spoken about the future of Pixar with the new cuts and massive layoffs that the studio suffered last May. So it seems that a time of, perhaps not “lean cows”, but of more control and less risks is coming.
“We have been able to cut our budgets, and we have made films in many fewer weeks. In the days of ‘Monsters SA’ and ‘Ratatouille’ there was, not opulence, that is not the right word. There was much more freedom to explore,” explained the director . “And now we’re tightening our belts and really going to be targeted when we take risks.”
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