By Angela Palumbo
Walt Disney's latest theatrical release was the worst in Pixar's history, but there's still time for Elio to bounce back.
Pixar is known for creating some of the most recognizable animated franchises of all time, such as Toy Story, Cars, and Finding Nemo. Each of those film franchises has brought in billions of dollars for Disney. It's not uncommon to see a child wearing a Cars-themed backpack to school or dressing up as Buzz Lightyear for Halloween.
Elio, which came to theaters on June 20, hit an estimated $21 million domestically and $35 million globally for its opening weekend. That was the worst opening weekend for a Pixar film ever. In stark contrast, Finding Nemo had an opening weekend of $70.5 million in 2003.
Barron's has reached out to Disney for comment.
The lack of viewership doesn't seem to be due to poor reviews. The film has a 91% positive audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film and TV review website. Comscore media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Barron's on Monday that one reason for the poor box office performance could simply be due to a lack of recognition compared to other recent film releases.
"The brand identity for this actual film and it's characters wasn't there for the movie," Dergarabedian said. He added that other family films that have recently hit theaters, such as How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch, and The Minecraft Movie, are brands widely recognized by families. Elio is a whole new story with new characters, and it seems this time around families chose to spend their money on stories they felt were more likely to be a hit with the kids.
How to Train Your Dragon, Universal Pictures' latest live-action installment, has grossed a total of $160.5 million domestically over the last two weeks. Lilo & Stitch, another Disney film, has grossed $386.7 million domestically since coming out on May 23.
Still, a disappointing box office opening weekend might not be as bad in the long run as it currently seems for Disney. Pixar's Elemental brought in $29.6 million in its opening weekend in 2023. While that was a miss at the time, the film ended up grossing a total of $154.4 million. And even if Elio's ticket sales don't grow exponentially , there are more opportunities for the movie outside of the box office.
"I always like to say it's not game over if you have sort of a slower opening weekend," Dergarabedian said. "I think it's more about where this film winds up in terms of its streaming profile and the long-term benefit of them having produced a really solid, great movie that audiences are enjoying."
People could be incentivized to go to Disney+ when Elio hits streaming. That's important in the current entertainment environment, as more people are going to streaming services from traditional TV. According to Nielsen data, streaming services edged out traditional TV in total usage for the first time ever in May.
"I think there was a corporate strategy behind this that really wasn't anticipating some sort of blow the doors off, mega opening weekend in theaters, but more the prestige factor of having it in the theater. Great reviews, great audience response -- this will be a big winner on streaming," Dergarabedian predicts.
Disney stock has declined 0.4% to $117.75 since the market opened on June 20, the day Elio released in theaters.
Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com
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June 23, 2025 14:41 ET (18:41 GMT)
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