Elio

[DisneyFan09]

To be honest, it was a fine and charming trailer. Despite how the premise is too derivative, hackneyed and done to death. The designs of the humans is just as lackluster as they were in Luca and Turning Red: Like stop motion characters made of clay (sorry to say). The designs of the aliens are awful, but Pixar has rarely been good with their designs (with the exception of their first movies). The scenes of the alien worlds were more appealing and funny, though. And unsurprisingly how the tagline is "from the studio that brought you Inside Out 2", lol

[PatchofBlue]

I really liked that trailer. You can tell there were major rewrites (I don't think Glordon was in the last trailer), but I'm having a stronger sense of the big emotional draw, and most of the jokes landed for me.

We'll see how it lands come this June, but this is most excited I've been for this movie.

Still, critics are probably going to react much the same way they did Elemental, and then people will wonder why Pixar greenlights so many sequels instead of "doing ORIGINAL films!"

Anyways, thanks to everyone who helped get the forum back up and running! I was genuinely worried for a minute that we were offline for good.

[Disney's Divinity]

It's definitely quirky. I do like the artstyle, not much else. If it ends up being a big success, I'll be shocked though.

[Sotiris]

Full trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETVi5_cnnaE

Here's the theatrical poster and the new synopsis for the film.

This summer, moviegoers will meet Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), an 11-year-old whose biggest wish is to get abducted by aliens, as well as his Aunt Olga (voiced by Academy Award winner Zoe Saldaña) and Glordon (voiced by Remy Edgerly), Elio’s unexpected first friend who happens to be an alien. In this big-screen adventure, Elio will travel millions of miles across the universe encountering a host of out-of-this world creatures who just might help him figure out exactly where he belongs. For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers — and in Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film Elio, the universe calls back! The cosmic misadventure introduces Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. So, when he’s beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide, Elio’s all in for the epic undertaking. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions, and somehow discover who and where he is truly meant to be.

Directed by Madeline Sharafian (Burrow Sparkshort), Domee Shi (Bao short, Turning Red), and Adrian Molina (co-screenwriter/co-director of Coco), and produced by Mary Alice Drumm (associate producer of Coco), the film also features the voices of Brad Garrett as Lord Grigon, Jameela Jamil as Ambassador Questa, and Shirley Henderson as OOOOO.

Source: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/pixar-elio-trailer/

[Sotiris]

Still, critics are probably going to react much the same way they did Elemental, and then people will wonder why Pixar greenlights so many sequels instead of "doing ORIGINAL films!"

Audiences still yearn for original movies, but that doesn't mean they'll flock to something just because it's "original". It's Pixar's—and Hollywood's at large—job to create original films that appeal to them. A film's failure to resonate lies on the shoulders of the studio, not of the audience.

In any case, I found the previous iteration of the story far more interesting. This one seems more cookie-cutter and paint-by-the-numbers. I can't muster much excitement for it.

[PatchofBlue]

Still, critics are probably going to react much the same way they did Elemental, and then people will wonder why Pixar greenlights so many sequels instead of "doing ORIGINAL films!"

Audiences still yearn for original movies, but that doesn't mean they'll flock to something just because it's "original". It's Pixar's—and Hollywood's at large—job to create original films that appeal to them. A film's failure to resonate lies on the shoulders of the studio, not of the audience.

I agree in principle, but I feel like it's a valid point as it pertains to the Pixar original movies of the 2020s because I genuinely feel like many of those movies were just as good as the Pixar classics, but critics have been withholding their approval for reasons that have had nothing to do with the merits of the films they are examining.

Those reviews tended to have a lot of, "Well, it's perfectly fine for any OTHER studio, I suppose, but where is that Pixar preeminence of days gone by? Out to pasture, I presume, once the Disney merger was consummated. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for afternoon croquet before teatime." What EXACTLY that means and what EXACTLY those films are missing, who knows? Critics never have to answer for that the way films have to answer to these kinds of reviews--which tend to be published on the same outlets that put out thought pieces about Disney and Pixar relying more and more on sequels for same vague mysterious reason.

My irritation lies much more with critics with platforms than average movie goers, though I often think that YouTube reviewers wind up doing very similar things.

[The Disneynerd]

I really liked that trailer. You can tell there were major rewrites (I don't think Glordon was in the last trailer), but I'm having a stronger sense of the big emotional draw, and most of the jokes landed for me.

same. Loved the emotional focus on him being an outsider not fitting in, and his weird nerdy passions. Looks more promising now, kinda hits close to home

[reee9948]

I'm afraid this movie is most likely going to flop even if its good because of the 300 million dollars budget.
https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/5 ... rs670fd035
"Behind the scenes, “Elio” has experienced major upheaval throughout its lengthy development, to the point where the budget tipped toward the $300M mark"

[PatchofBlue]

If the movie flops, it'll be because Disney will never give this movie the promotion or build up it affords to its Marvel or Star Wars offerings, or even their animated sequels.

[DisneyJedi]

I'm afraid this movie is most likely going to flop even if its good because of the 300 million dollars budget.
https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/5 ... rs670fd035
"Behind the scenes, “Elio” has experienced major upheaval throughout its lengthy development, to the point where the budget tipped toward the $300M mark"

$300 MILLION?!?!?!

I'd expect that sort of budget with any of James Cameron's Avatar films, but... what?! How is it the budget on Disney's films lately are ballooning so much?!

[Farerb]

This film doesn't interest me much but my nephews will probably enjoy it and I prefer to take them to this film than to Lilo and Stitch.

[BloomHunter]

to the point where the budget tipped toward the $300M mark"

Sounds like this could be 2020s The mediocre dino movie.

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't expect it to be quite as bad as The Good Dinosaur, but... Probably not by much. But here's to being hopeful, since I did like Turning Red and Luca.

The funny thing is I don't really like the sound of any of the original films on the table for WDAS or PIXAR (that we know of yet) which is a shame. I wasn't excited about Strange World back when either. I did look forward to Wish and it wasn't as good I had hoped based on the concept / potential. But besides Wish and Luca, I suppose I'd have to go back to Raya for when I was last excited for a new project (I hadn't looked forward to Encanto, but ended up enjoying it after all). The beaver film, this, and the WDAS film that sounds like Elio 2.0 all sound unappealing. IDK how, but I'd like to think Domee Shi might make the beaver film into something good, it just sounds too much of a ripoff of TR.

So it's really only sequels I've been excited by the past few years (Frozen, Zootopia, Encanto, etc.), and even some of those I'm not as excited about as I feel I should be (TS5 and Incredibles 3--their previous sequels sort of took a lot of my interest out of those two properties, although I'll still see them).

[Sotiris]

How sci-fi classics Alien, The Thing, and Contact — and a director shake-up — shaped Pixar's Elio
https://ew.com/pixar-elio-sci-fi-classi ... e-11721610

[PatchofBlue]

However, after a couple of years working on the project, Molina ultimately wasn't the one to see it to the finish line, as he was beamed up to co-direct Coco 2 (after co-directing its 2017 predecessor). Upon his new assignment, the filmmaker handed off his passion project to Domee Shi, who told a similarly personal story with 2022's Turning Red, and Sharafian, a longtime Pixar vet and first-time feature director who helmed the 2020 short Burrow.

I imagine it'll be a few years before we find out how much truth there is to this, or what other factors there were that we aren't seeing. Still, if he's still directing at Pixar, I can't imagine it was anything that seedy.

Anyway, the story still looks really nice to me. The jury's always out until after the credits roll, but my "Good Dinosaur" alarm grows a little bit dimmer with every new thing I see from this movie.

[Disney's Divinity]

I'm sure a Coco 2 will happen, but I'm surprised if it's being worked on already. But since both studios are struggling with coming up with interesting original IP right now, they're probably hurrying as many sequels as possible to the front of the line.

[DisneyJedi]

However, after a couple of years working on the project, Molina ultimately wasn't the one to see it to the finish line, as he was beamed up to co-direct Coco 2 (after co-directing its 2017 predecessor). Upon his new assignment, the filmmaker handed off his passion project to Domee Shi, who told a similarly personal story with 2022's Turning Red, and Sharafian, a longtime Pixar vet and first-time feature director who helmed the 2020 short Burrow.

I imagine it'll be a few years before we find out how much truth there is to this, or what other factors there were that we aren't seeing. Still, if he's still directing at Pixar, I can't imagine it was anything that seedy.

Anyway, the story still looks really nice to me. The jury's always out until after the credits roll, but my "Good Dinosaur" alarm grows a little bit dimmer with every new thing I see from this movie.

Is that good or bad, the alarm growing dimmer?

[PatchofBlue]

I imagine it'll be a few years before we find out how much truth there is to this, or what other factors there were that we aren't seeing. Still, if he's still directing at Pixar, I can't imagine it was anything that seedy.

Anyway, the story still looks really nice to me. The jury's always out until after the credits roll, but my "Good Dinosaur" alarm grows a little bit dimmer with every new thing I see from this movie.

Is that good or bad, the alarm growing dimmer?

Good, in this case. My mind jumps to "The Good Dinosaur" because that one also had a huge directorial shift midway through that completely changed the engine of the story, and that had to have contributed to the mess we ended up with. I'm not getting those vibes here. If I hadn't known about the production shake-up with this film, I wouldn't have guessed this movie had experienced any behind the scenes difficulty based on the most recent promotional material.

Though, again, we'll have to see whether that reading pans out.

[reee9948]

Final trailer coming soon. https://x.com/elio_updates/status/1923178673701556488

[reee9948]

Post production of the movie has been wrapped. Movie is now ready to be released. https://www.instagram.com/p/DJke70zzP6k/

Edit: Final runtime for Elio is 1 hour & 39 minutes.