Pixar’s latest movie,Elio, seems to be continuing an unfortunate trend for the animation giant in the post-pandemic years. This new story from Pixar centers around the titular child who fulfills his dream of meeting aliens after he is abducted and mistaken for the ambassador of Earth. However, like other non-sequels recently made by Pixar,2025’sEliohas had a rough time attracting a big enough audience to movie theaters to break even.
The new film has set a record low for the studio with its disappointing opening weekend gross.This initial low turnout seems to signifyElio’s future as another box office bomb for Pixar,especially considering the movie’s massive budget. However, there is still hope for thecritically acclaimedElio, as its positive reviews could make it a theatrical success later on, just like one of Pixar’s previous sleeper hits.
Elio Debuted With Pixar’s Worst Opening Weekend In History
The Previous Record Holder Was The First Toy Story
Elio’s opening weekendis a new low for Pixar. This new animated sci-fi movie reportedly made just over $21 million total in its first weekend(viaBox Office Mojo).This marks the lowest-grossing opening weekend in Pixar’s 30-plus-year historyof producing feature films. The previous record holder was 1995’sToy Story,the studio’s first feature-length animated movie, which made $29.1 million upon its debut.
Despite Pixar’s notoriety as one of the most innovative and acclaimed film production studios ever, it’s disheartening to see its latest movie have a worse opening weekend than a film released before the studio became a household name.This raises questions about whether Pixar can continue to succeed in making movies not based on previous projects,such asToy StoryorInside Out.
Elio’s Positive Reviews Can Help With Word-of-Mouth
That’s What Happened With Elemental
Despite having a less-than-desirable opening weekend,Eliocan still succeed in theaters over time, having generated very positive buzz.This Pixar movie is now Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, having gained an 84% rating from critics and a 91% rating from audiences. AlthoughEliois one of the lower-ranking Pixar films on Rotten Tomatoes, it still boasts a very high score, placing it aboveMonsters Universityand belowOnward.
These impressive reviews should helpEliocreate enough encouraging word of mouth to drive more people into theaters. This will enable the movie to bring in more and more revenue during its theatrical run, recouping its reported $150 million budget and achieving a decent profit (viaVariety).
Elio’s Box Office May Have An Elemental Scenario
There is a good chance thatEliocan bounce back in theaters after its lackluster opening weekend,as was the case with Pixar’s previous original film,Elemental.This 2023 movie achieved glowing reviews and broke even after earning over $496 million in theaters, despite making only $29.6 million on its opening weekend (viaBox Office Mojo).
AlthoughElementalwas a new Pixar story that didn’t initially make a lot of money, its eventual success proved that there is still room for original animated stories to succeed in theaters.
AlthoughElementalwas a new Pixar story that didn’t initially make a lot of money, its eventual success proved that there is still room for original animated stories to succeed in theaters. It may be rare for such an expensive movie to come back around based solely on word of mouth. But sincePixar did it before withElemental,it can do it again withElio.
It is clear that Pixar is having more trouble getting audiences to come see its original films than it did in its earlier years. Like with most new stories in Hollywood, not enough audiences seem to be getting on board with watching Pixar’s new movie while it’s still in theaters. Nevertheless, if history repeats itself withElioduring its theatrical run, Pixar’s latest project could still draw in a large audience, surpass its poor opening weekend, and generate a profit for the studio, much likeElementaldid not long ago.
