A scene from “Elio.”
The new animated sci-fi adventure Elio is has set a new record low for a Pixar Animation Studios movie.
Like Pixar’s previous films, Elio was distributed by Disney. Starring the voices of Zoe Saldaña, Brad Garrett and Yonas Kibreab (as the title character), Elio arrived on Friday with positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes critics with an 86% “fresh” rating based on 105 reviews, which as of Sunday has dropped to 84% “fresh” with 137 reviews counted.
RT users loved Elio even more, as the film to date has earned a 91% “fresh” Popcornmeter score based on 500-plus verified user ratings.
But as Sunday’s weekend box office numbers show, great reviews and enthusiastic audience vibes didn’t automatically translate into big ticket sales for the film. According to Deadline, the PG-rated Elio is projected to earn $21 million from 3,750 North American theaters in its opening Friday to Sunday frame for a No. 3 finish behind another PG film, How to Train Your Dragon ($37 million), and the R-rated 28 Years Later ($30 million).
Unfortunately for Pixar, the $21 million opening is far below the previous lowest opening numbers for the studio. In 2023, Elemental earned $29.6 million from 4,035 North American theaters in its opening weekend, while the studio’s first feature, Toy Story, grossed $29.1 million from 2,574 theaters in its first weekend frame in 1995.
Adding insult to the film’s box office injury, Elio had a production budget of $150 million before prints and advertising costs, according to The Numbers.
One thing worth noting is that there have been other Pixar films that had lower opening numbers at the box office, but those releases with a huge caveat: Soul (2020), Luca (2021) and Turning Red (2022) all debuted on Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic before getting limited theatrical runs in 2024.
Scene from “Inside Out 2.”
What Pixar Films Had The Best Opening Weekends?
Elio’s opening weekend of $21 million is a mere pittance to the biggest opening weekend for a Pixar film, which came in 2018 with the release of Incredibles 2 — which earned $182.6 million from 4,410 North American theaters.
Incredibles 2 went on to make $608.5 million domestically finishing in third place at the 2018 North American box office behind Disney-Marvel’s Black Panther ($700 million) and Avengers: Infinity War ($688.8 million).
The second-highest-grossing opening weekend for a Pixar film came with last year’s release of Inside Out 2, which earned $154.2 million from 4,440 North American theaters in its first Friday to Sunday frame. Inside Out 2 went on to be the biggest film at the domestic office last year, earning $652.9 million.
Pixar will try to get its magic back with Toy Story 5, which is currently set for a June 19, 2026, release date.
Elio, meanwhile, is playing in theaters nationwide.
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