Elio Will Likely Be the Worst Pixar Film Opening Ever
“Elio” is tracking to become the worst Pixar film opening ever.
Currently, the film is only tracking for a domestic debut of $20-$22 million, which would put it in last place for a Pixar opening weekend. The next closest total was “Elemental” at $29.6 million in 2023.
Does this mean the film is bad?
No. I fully expected it to suck, but found it to be good. It isn’t the best Pixar film ever, but it is far from the worst. My daughter said she felt it was an 8 out of 10.
It is possible for a film to be good and still fail at the box office.
Why is “Elio” failing then?
“Elio” is likely failing for a few reasons. Firstly the film was not promoted well. A lot of people didn’t even know it existed until the trailer ran ahead of “Lilo & Stitch.”
Secondly, the film doesn’t look great from the trailers. The animation style is once again the “bean mouth” look and the trailers make it feel far less interesting than it is. Honestly, I don’t know what else they could do with it to make it translate into a trailer better. This one is a hard sell.
Thirdly, people don’t seem to like space-themed animation films. “Strange World” and “Home” did not perform well in theaters. Even “Wall-e” was hit-and-miss back in the day, but has since developed a strong fan base.
Finally, many families just spend money to see “How To Train Your Dragon” or “Lilo and Stitch” and they don’t feel “Elio” is a “must see” theatrical release. Disney has trained people to wait for Disney+ for most Pixar films.
With the economy being what it is, and a trip to the movies costing more and more, many will just wait for the movie to come to Disney+ like they’ve been doing.
The box office didn’t fare well this weekend.
”How To Train Your Dragon” came out last weekend and it will still dominate this weekend, but it is beating the competition at about $36 million, which isn’t great. “28 Years Later” debuted in second place with an estimated $30-$31 million total.
There are so many films coming out but people likely can’t afford to got to the movies weekly. Many are saving up for July with “Superman” and “Fantastic Four: First Steps” coming.
“Elio” is a good film. Not the best Pixar film ever, but not terrible either. It just doesn’t have enough interested to tempt people to spend the money to go see it when they can wait for Disney+.
Sadly, at an estimated $300 million, this might destroy the potential for original stories getting a fair chance and open the doors for “Toy Story 20,” “Frozen 15” and “Cars 30.”
What do you think? Comment and let us know!