A new trailer for Elio has debuted. The upcoming Pixar movie follows Elio Solis (Yonas Kibreab), an 11-year-old boy who wants to be abducted by aliens, only to have his dream come true. Elio’s Aunt Olga is voiced by Zoe Saldaña, while the alien ambᴀssadors Questa, Lord Grigon, and Oooooo are respectively voiced by Jameela Jamil, Brad Garrett, and Shirley Henderson. The release for the upcoming Elio was originally scheduled for March 1, 2024, before moving to June 20, 2025.

Now, Pixar has released a new trailer that provides a closer look at Elio. The trailer kicks off by introducing the various characters with scenes including Elio trying to get abducted on a beach, Aunt Olga being frustrated by his disconnect from the world around him, and the alien Glordon (Remy Edgerly) reacting apathetically to his dad, Lord Grigon, introducing a new war machine.

After sending out a successful message to a group of aliens looking for dreamers, Elio befriends Glordon. When Lord Grigon arrives on a mission to conquer, the pair become what might be the only hope for peace in the galaxy. Of course, the two children may not be entirely suited for this task, as proven by the closing scene where Elio has to climb into Glordon’s mouth in order to protect himself from lava. Check out the trailer below:

What This Means For Elio

The Movie Is Finally Coming Together After A Creative Overhaul

This new full-length trailer emphasizes the fact that the movie has settled into its new direction. A key reason for the movie’s release date delay was a major creative overhaul that included Zoe Saldaña’s Aunt Olga replacing America Ferrera as Elio’s mom, and original director Adrian Molina becoming a co-director alongside Turning Red‘s Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian. The previous Elio trailer highlighted how many story changes this involved, as it restaged a major scene from the original trailer, which featured the character being terrified rather than delighted by his abduction.

The new trailer is consistent with the creative direction revealed by that previous trailer and drills down even deeper into the storyline of the upcoming Pixar movie. This includes significantly fleshing out the friendship between Elio and Glordon, the latter of whom has been given the spotlight for the first time here. The overall skeleton of the story has also been revealed, though Lord Grigon’s evil plot seems to evoke the same light tone showcased by the previous trailer, which primarily explored Elio’s obsession and abduction.

Our Take On The New Elio Trailer

Its Success Is Still Up In The Air

Although Elio has finally revealed what will most likely be its final creative form, it remains to be seen if the movie is a success in theaters. Its new tone seems similar to Turning Red, which was released primarily on Disney+ amid a pandemic-depressed box office period and thus only grossed $21.5 million in theaters worldwide against its $175 million budget. Therefore, it has not set a precedent for what Pixar might expect from the new original movie, which comes during a time when the company’s output has been unpredictable, between solid hits like Elemental and major misses like Lightyear.

Source: Pixar