Elio, Pixar’s latest animated movie, hit theaters over the weekend. Odds are you didn’t see it, based on the flick’s not-so-great box office returns. In fact, the film now holds the unfortunate record for the worst opening weekend of a Pixar movie in the studio’s history.
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As reported by Variety, Elio brought in just $21 million domestically from over 3,500 North American theaters during its opening weekend. For modern Pixar, that’s abysmal. Overseas, Elio racked up just $14 million. That means the new Pixar movie ended its opener at just $35 million. For comparison, most Pixar films earn around $50 million or more domestically alone during their first weekend. In fact, the last time a Pixar film stumbled this badly out of the gate was 2023’s Elemental, which previously held the record.
However, Elemental had a happy ending. Despite only earning $44 million globally after its first weekend and being called a bomb or flop by many online, the animated rom-com kept on earning money. By the end of its run, thanks largely to positive word of mouth and solid reviews, Elemental earned $496 million globally. That could happen with Elio, too. The movie is receiving rave reviews from both audiences and critics. However, Elio does have to compete with the live-action How To Train Your Dragon film, which was the number one film at the box office over the weekend for a second week in a row, so it might struggle to turn things around. We shall see.
Pixar might be forced to crank out sequels
Regardless of what happens, Elio and Elemental’s lackluster opening weekend likely isn’t good for Pixar. While the studio can still produce big box office hits, like 2024’s Inside Out 2 and 2019’s Toy Story 4, a problematic pattern is forming.
It appears Pixar is struggling to create new, original hit films that blow up and become pop culture icons like The Incredibles or Monsters Inc. If Disney sees sequels as solid money earners and original films, like Elio, as risky bets that have to rely on long theatrical runs to become profitable, it could lead to the Mickey Mouse empire changing up Pixar’s output. The studio might become entirely focused on sequels, with its few original projects sent to Disney+ to appease the content gods. It would be a sad fate for a studio that once had one of the best original film track records in Hollywood. And this seems to already be happening, with only two of Pixar’s six announced movies being original projects.
But in 2025, it really does seem like kids want stuff they know, like Minecraft and live-action remakes, and aren’t screaming to see original animated movies. Or their parents don’t want to risk spending $20+ on seeing a new movie, instead bringing their kids to Hollywood’s latest reheated leftovers.
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