Pixar’s latest original film Elio released in theaters this past weekend, and despite good reviews, the film had a historically low opening for the studio. The $35 million worldwide opening for Elio is actually the lowest that the studio has yet had, following a trend with their original films in recent years. Despite some successes for the studio, such as big hits like last year’s Inside Out 2, this disastrous opening is a complex beast, and there are many important reasons why the new film failed. These are worth reviewing, as they may influence the future of Pixar.

Predicting the summer box office is always a difficult task, as each season brings many surprises. While there were signs that Lilo & Sтιтch would be the box office hit that it has been, there were also reasons that the film could have failed to connect with audiences. A box office success or failure is a perfect storm of several complex contributing factors. With that said, there are still several important details about Elio that are worth taking into consideration to explain its current performance.

1

Elio Was Delayed For Too Long

Making Audiences Aware Of A Film Too Early Can Hurt The Film’s Success

The first teaser for Elio was released in June 2023, promising that the film would arrive in 2024. When that did not happen, most audiences moved on from their interest in the film. The market for media is incredibly oversaturated, and the product in question can only be anticipated for so long. Without exciting franchise connections, interest in Elio waned with time, and when it was finally released, it felt like it should have been available on streaming instead.

In addition, delays and changes to the film likely hurt interest. By pushing the movie back over a year, many perceived this as a lack of faith in the film, especially after the original director left the project. With subsequent trailers showing a very different movie than the original teaser, including a different story, Elio did not seem to have enough faith behind it to justify a trip to the theaters. Too many delays hurt audience belief, causing most families to wait to watch the film on Disney+, if at all.

2

Elio’s Marketing Wasn’t Great

The Film’s Confusing Promotion Didn’t Do Much To Draw In Audiences

Elio went through several changes during production, which contributed to a baffling marketing campaign. As mentioned previously, the first teaser was released two years before the film finally came out and reflected a different story. The teaser suggested that Earth would be put on trial, a dramatic choice that did not make its way to the final film. Several characters were changed, and the outlook for the film, including the tone, seemed to go through several shifts.

With so many differences in the final Elio film compared to the first trailer, audiences didn’t really know what to expect. The trailers promised a science fiction adventure from Pixar, which might have been enough in the studio’s heyday, but there was nothing in the story beyond this general setting that provoked interest in the movie. Characters like Grigon and the outlook of the Galactic Council seemed to shift through the marketing, which, in addition to being confusing, weren’t entirely effective in the promotion.

3

Elio’s Reviews Are Good But Don’t Sell It As A Must-See Movie

The Movie Is Among The Ten Worst-Reviewed Pixar Films

Even though Elio‘s Rotten Tomatoes score is currently a strong 86%, this may not be as good as it seems for Pixar. Lower scores for Pixar movies are rare, making Elio actually one of the worst-received original Pixar films, scoring below movies like Onward, Luca, and Finding Dory. In ranking all the Pixar movies, Elio has tended to not even make it into the top 20 with most reviewers.

Despite good reviews, nothing about the new film seemed to make it a must-see. The story looked fine, but not urgent or especially pertinent, and only a handful of reviews identified it as one of Pixar’s best. With the entire library of Pixar projects available on streaming, the prospect of paying to see a lesser experience would not have been appealing for most audiences. Without any urgency, this quality was not sufficient to draw audiences into the multiplex.

4

Pixar Isn’t The Guaranteed Box Office Draw It Used To Be

Audiences Need More Than The Pixar Brand To Convince Them

Especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed audiences to grow accustomed to Pixar movies being released straight to Disney+, Pixar has tried to change its theatrical plans with mixed success. While the studio for many years could do no wrong, giving confidence in obscure projects like Ratatouille and Up, the expectation for Pixar films has changed. Audiences do not have faith that the films will be good enough to need to rush out to theaters, which has affected some of their recent projects negatively.

Lightyear had a mixed response and a poor run at the box office. As the first film from the studio to release in theaters in several years, this seemed to signal a downward trend in quality for Pixar. While Elemental was able to have a second weekend comeback after a poor opening, this kind of performance is uncommon. There is some hope that Elio could follow that film’s trajectory, but that is a rare feat.

5

Original Animated Movies Are Rare Box Office Hits Now

Most Big Animated Hits Are Sequels Or Adaptations

Original animated movies are always a hard sell, and ones in the science-fiction genre have consistently been among the least successful. Following in the path of films including тιтan A.E., Mars Needs Moms, Strange World, and Treasure Planet, initial interest in Elio seemed to be low. Factoring in how difficult it has been to sell original animated movies in general recently, and much of Elio‘s concerns seem to be understandable.

The path towards Disney’s animated flops is hard to distill down to a singular formula, although the bulk of their disappointments have been original films, and several recent projects have evidenced the difficulty in selling these. Movies like Wish failed to light up the box office, and even Onward looked set to be a box office disappointment, even if it hadn’t been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Only Elemental was able to eke out a small success without connections to IP, and that was with strong word of mouth and over a long period of time.

6

Audiences Are More Willing To Wait For Streaming Now

Theatrical Releases Need To Justify Their Big Screens

Elio does not seem to be a much bigger or more exciting project than Win or Lose, the first Disney+ Pixar series, which likely contributed to audiences being willing to wait for the new original film to come to streaming. Pixar acclimated audiences to a model where their movies were released straight to streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many other studios have contributed to shrinking the window before streaming releases. With all of this in mind, there is enough content online to keep families entertained until Elio comes to streaming, likely in two short months.

7

Going To Theaters Is Expensive For Families

There Are Many Compelling Films Competing For A Limited Pool Of Funds

Going to theaters is an expensive task, and costs have only grown with time. With the cost of living crisis affecting much of the Western world, going to the cinema has become a premium experience that audiences have only been able to save for the bigger, most necessary pictures. With so much great stuff on streaming, there must be the promise of some incredible spectacle in order to justify a trip to the theater.

Movies like How to Train Your Dragon have done this well by emphasizing the spectacle in their trailers, which has provoked audiences to spend their limited funds on movies like that instead. With that in mind, and with no urgency for audiences to rush out to see Elio, the cost of going to theaters between such big-budget releases can be prohibitive. With some of most anticipated movies of 2025 coming in July, including Jurᴀssic World Rebirth and Superman, there is not enough incentive to spend one’s limited funds on Elio.

8

Live-Action Remakes Are Performing Better

Recent Films Like How To Train Your Dragon And Lilo & Sтιтch Are Bigger Hits

Just as box office proceeds saw Disney shift away from 2D animation in the past, it seems that interest in computer-animated movies may be moving instead toward live-action remakes. This year, both Lilo & Sтιтch and How to Train Your Dragon have seen increases over their animated predecessors at the box office, suggesting that audiences currently care more about the live-action medium rather than computer-animated films. With those movies still in theaters, this conclusion is a little early, but could suggest a trend moving forward.

Granted, this is a 2025 state, and there is still interest in some animated sequels. Inside Out 2 and Moana 2 proved this last year, but the potential success of a Moana live-action remake could show how much interest there is in live-action remakes over computer-animated films. Elio has unfortunately not been a major success for Pixar, but the film still has a way to go in theaters. Hopefully Elio will be able to squeeze out some success in the coming weeks with a run more like Elemental than Lightyear.