ANALYSIS

'Elio': The worst box office debut in Pixar history

According to Variety, the animated film grossed just $21 million domestically in more than 3,500 theaters during its opening weekend.

"Elio," another Pixar film from 2025 that has disappointed at the box office.COLLECTION CHRISTOPHEL / Cordon Press.

Published by

Diane Hernández

24 de junio, 2025

Topics:

cinema
Pixar

Pixar's latest animated film, "Elio," opened in theaters this weekend, marked by a disappointing box office performance. According to specialists, the film holds the record for the worst opening weekend for a film in the history of the creative studio.

According to trade magazine Variety, the children's film grossed just $21 million domestically in more than 3,500 theaters during its opening weekend. For Pixar, that's a disastrous figure.

Overseas, "Elio" grossed just $14 million. That means the studio's new movie closed its debut with about $35 million.

Disney's fourth flop in 2025

With the sole exception of the live-action version of "Lilo & Stitch," this is the fourth flop of Disney's five releases so far in 2025.

In addition to "Elio," the releases of "Snow White," "Captain America: Brave New World" and "Thunderbolts" also went bust this year, which likely means the entertainment company has lost more than $1 billion so far.

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"Elio" vs. "Elemental"

According to the release, most Pixar films gross around $50 million or more domestically alone during their first weekend. In fact, the last time a Pixar film had such a disastrous opening was with "Elemental" from 2023, which previously held the record.

However, "Elemental," despite grossing only $44 million worldwide after its first weekend and being considered a flop by many online, the animated romantic comedy continued to generate revenue. By the end of its run, the film grossed $496 million worldwide.

"Elio," while getting rave reviews, has to compete with the live-action "How to Train Your Dragon," which was the No. 1 film at the box office over the weekend for the second week in a row, so the former could struggle to recover.

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Will Pixar move on to sequels?

While Pixar can still produce big blockbusters, such as 2024's "Inside Out 2" and 2019's "Toy Story 4," a troubling pattern is forming with its latest flops.

Disney is increasingly banking on sequels as solid revenue streams, however it could categorize original films, such as "Elio," as risky bets that have to rely on long theatrical runs to be profitable, and this could lead the Mickey Mouse empire to shift production away from Pixar.

The story of "Elio"

Elio, an underdog child with an overflowing imagination, finds himself inadvertently transported to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from distant galaxies.

Mistaken as Earth's ambassador to the rest of the universe, he begins to forge new bonds with eccentric aliens as he discovers his true destiny.