Disney and Pixar released the full trailer for “Gatto” on Nov. 12, confirming the film opens exclusively in theaters March 5, 2027. That matters because this is Pixar’s next test of whether an original idea, with no sequel number and no theme park ride, can still sell a ticket.
Mark Ruffalo voices Nero, a scrappy black cat working the canals of Venice who owes a debt to feline mob boss Rocco, voiced by Laurence Fishburne. The job that clears the debt is stealing a violin with a cat-shaped head from a street musician named Maja, which means the plot’s MacGuffin and the score’s violin solos come from the same instrument. The voice cast around them reads like a repertory company that wandered onto a Pixar soundstage: John Turturro, Isabella Rossellini, Jason Schwartzman, Tracey Ullman, Natasia Demetriou and Rhys Darby. (Nobody here has a lunchbox deal waiting.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq7Q-dtIZeM
Director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren are the team behind the Oscar-nominated “Luca,” and the footage leans hard on what made that film look different. Casarosa told Annecy in June that “Gatto” carries an immersive, expressive painterly look, pulling from Tintoretto, Sargent and Monet, and he called a gondola-and-opera sequence “the heart of the movie.” Cartoon Brew went further, calling the earlier teaser a look at what may be the most significant visual departure in Pixar’s 30-year history. Dario Marianelli, an Oscar winner for “Atonement,” composed the score, with violin parts co-written and performed by Slovak violinist Barbora Botošová.
The numbers this release sits inside tell the real story. “Hoppers” opened to $46 million domestic the first weekend of March 2026, the best start for a Pixar original since “Coco” in 2017, and has since climbed to $389.7 million worldwide. “Toy Story 5” opened to $159.7 million in June and has crossed $1.1 billion. “Elio,” the original that came before “Hoppers,” opened to $21 million, the worst debut in the studio’s 30-year history. “Gatto” takes Hoppers’ early-March slot rather than the summer berth Pixar once reserved for its biggest swings, which is not an accident.
That split mirrors a wider animation market this fall, where Warner Bros. is leaning on an established name with Coyote vs. Acme’s own test of what the Looney Tunes brand is still worth at the box office, while Pixar is betting a single trailer can sell a cat nobody has met before.
What this probably means: the Pixar original now survives when it arrives with an animal and a distinct look, two things a thirty-second trailer can transmit without a plot summary. Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro made that case after “Hoppers” opened, writing, “don’t underestimate talking animal movies. Post Zootopia 2, GOAT, they’re the motion picture industry’s best friends.” Pixar is hedging anyway. “Incredibles 3” lands in 2028, a “Coco” sequel is expected in 2029, and a third “Monsters, Inc.” is in development, alongside originals like “Ghost Market” and Domee Shi’s first musical.
Two details sharpen the mood. “Gatto” is Casarosa’s first feature to actually reach a theater, since “Luca” went straight to Disney+ in 2021 while cinemas recovered from the pandemic. And the one piece of familiar IP riding along is the short playing in front of it: “Loving Dory,” with Ellen DeGeneres returning as Dory.
March 5, 2027 is the date that answers it, when a painterly Venice and a cat on his last life either fill seats or join Elio’s column.
