Pixar's animated film Elio, about an orphan mistakenly believed to be Earth's ambassador among warring aliens, had an exceedingly poor box office debut, bringing in just $21 million against a production cost of $150 million. This marks the lowest opening for Disney's animation division, especially notable given Pixar's historical successes. While Disney continues to thrive overall with strong box office grosses, Elio's failure exemplifies increasing challenges for Pixar, particularly for new narratives outside established franchises, exacerbated by production hurdles including a change in directorship during development.
The underperformance of Elio, costing $150 million and grossing $21 million at the North American box office, highlights a significant liability for Pixar's post-COVID productions.
Elio was initially expected to gross as much as $30 million, illustrating a stark contrast between prerelease expectations and actual consumer interest upon release.
Despite achieving a combined $1.1 billion in box-office grosses, Disney's challenges with Pixar's Elio underscore the difficulties faced by original animated films in a post-pandemic landscape.
Elio's production challenges included changes in directorship after original director Adrian Molina departed to work on other projects, impacting the film's final output and reception.
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