Elio

[reee9948]

Critic Reviews are out. It seems like the movie isn't terrible, but not one of the greatest, just as I expected.

‘Elio’ Review – Pixar’s Latest is Gorgeous and Heartfelt, Yet Still Very Flawed
https://discussingfilm.net/2025/06/17/e ... on-flawed/


Pixar’s New Alien Adventure ‘Elio’ Is the Studio’s Rare Miss
https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/ ... rare-miss/

‘Elio’ Review: Pixar’s Sweet, Safe Space Adventure Isn’t Exactly Out of This World
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 236292709/

[bulgaross]

82% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews are pretty solid.

[Kyle]

that seems low given how new the movie still is. hmm

[bulgaross]

Given that the movie underwent a complete overhaul just a year ago, I find the reviews better than expected.

[PatchofBlue]

The jury's still out for me. The production turmoil poses some legitimate issues, but critics have also just gotten bored with Pixar films over the last five years. Unless it comes loaded with some specific topical talking point like Inside Out 2 or has some philosophical dressing like SOUL, critics just don't know how signing their name to a cartoon will advance their clout.

[bulgaross]

Deadline is predicting $20+M opening weekend for Elio.

While that amount of money doesn’t equal the massive second-weekend take of Inside Out 2 a year ago ($101.2M), consider the two wide entries a further deepening of the summer box office with a diversity of fare (that’s been the motif all season long, no?).

Elio‘s U.S./Canada advance ticket sales are around $1M, which is just ahead of where Pixar’s 2023 summer original title Elemental was. That movie opened to $29.6M. While $20M stateside is nothing to brag about, this is the new paradigm for original animated movie openings, and the importance, given matinee business during the week for families, is the leg-out factor. Elemental did a 5x multiple, for a final domestic of $154.4M. Reviews for Elio stand at 82% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which is higher than Elemental‘s 73%. Elio follows a young space fanatic whose wish for adventures with aliens in outer space comes true. His journey leads to a greater connection with earthbound aunt who cares for him following the death of his parents. The movie itself is its biggest advertisement: Look for word of mouth to carry Elio.

https://deadline.com/2025/06/box-office ... 236436173/

[bulgaross]

Just saw an early access screening.

The story felt a bit too flimsy, rushed and underdeveloped, and the emotional heartbeats didn't always feel earned. Lots of unexplored potential story and dialogue-wise. The humor was a bit lacking too. Visuals were stunning. No notes.

Also, Molina is surprisingly not given credit as a co-director in the end credits.

7/10

[PatchofBlue]

Pixar needs original animated hits. They're much harder to come by at the box office
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/p ... ngNewsSerp

So far this summer, many of the films that have propelled the box office are family-friendly — Warner Bros. Pictures' "A Minecraft Movie," and live-action remakes "Lilo & Stitch" from Disney and "How to Train Your Dragon" from Universal.

Last year, Pixar's "Inside Out 2" hauled in nearly $1.7 billion in global box office revenue last year, while Universal and Illumination Entertainment's "Despicable Me 4" grossed $969.6 million worldwide and Disney's "Moana 2" made $1 billion.

The common denominator among these films? They're all sequels, reboots or rely on known intellectual property.

But industry insiders and analysts say that simply focusing on new chapters of existing stories risks making the animation space stale.

"If you’re trying to grow the business, you need new content, you need new franchises, you need new things for people to be excited about," said Creutz of TD Cowen.

But beyond the box office, Pixar original films can get exposure — and drive business — through other parts of the Disney empire. Movies eventually debut on Disney+ and characters will show up on merchandise or in the theme parks, which can expand a film's reach.

"Pixar is in the long-term business," said David A. Gross, who writes a movie industry newsletter. "They want to create stories that last, and if that works in bringing back a sequel, great, but there is enormous value for streaming for these pictures, whatever they do in theatrical. There are a lot of revenue streams.”

Anyways, I just got back from my screening, and I really liked where this thing landed.

Even knowing what the story was "about"--I think it was Domee Shi who said that they hoped to do with this movie for loneliness what IO2 got too much credit for with did for anxiety--I was still a little broken by the final scene.

The pacing during the first third was a bit hurried, but it became clear as we went on that the opening on earth was not only establishing a lot of necessary set pieces but also laying down some essential motifs that the rest of the movie drew from. And I became less bothered by it as we went on.

I'll no doubt unpack my feelings further in later posts and responses, but this was another win for me.

Anyways, the showing was unfortunately sparse. I mostly go to matinees, which are generally less full, but I noticed the parking lot was pretty full, and yet I was one of only like three parties at my showing. I have to imagine that they all went for "How to Train Your Dragon." I always thought there was no way both movies were going to hit landing so close together, but this is Pixar's usual window, so I can't fault them too much. Universal was the one who swooped in with the shinier toy.

[blackcauldron85]

I just came back from seeing this. Of course I loved it (I love everything Pixar & WDAS). I cried a bunch, I laughed a bunch. I loved the loneliness theme; I related a lot to it.

One screen in the credits just had Molina listed as the director, but Madeline and Domee were listed on other screens.

[Sotiris]

Elio had the worst ever 3-day opening weekend for a Pixar film at the domestic box office. Numbers not adjusted for inflation.

01. Elio: $20.84 million
02. Toy Story: $29.14 million
03. Elemental: $29.60 million
04. A Bug's Life: $33.25 million
05. Onward: $39.11 million
06. The Good Dinosaur: $39.15 million
07. Ratatouille: $47.02 million
08. Lightyear: $50.57 million
09. Coco: $50.80 million
10. Cars 3: $53.68 million

[Patricier21]

Here is my out of Theatre Reaction: https://youtube.com/shorts/-ZUhclQ0frg?feature=shared

[UmbrellaFish]

I really did not understand the pessimistic outlook for this film, but it seems those views have been proven right. I thought the mid-production director switch was concerning, of course, but I thought audience would embrace another kid and their alien movie, especially after Lilo and Stitch.

Is there a world where original Disney and Pixar films take a hit with their initial box office, but as the films grow a fan base through Disney+, they turn a profit through merch, theme parks, and eventually theatrical sequels? That seems to have been the case with Encanto and (to much less dismal initial box office results) Moana.

Last year, my mom, my sisters, and I saw Inside Out 2 in theatres on the July 4th— we may do that again this year with Elio.

[PatchofBlue]

Is there a world where original Disney and Pixar films take a hit with their initial box office, but as the films grow a fan base through Disney+, they turn a profit through merch, theme parks, and eventually theatrical sequels? That seems to have been the case with Encanto and (to much less dismal initial box office results) Moana.

If you think about it, that's how a lot of the animated canon is, especially from Walt's Day. Pinocchio, Bambi, and Sleeping Beauty come to mind as films that flopped on their premiere but attained classic-hood over time. The ecosystems are quite different, but I do still think there's a potential future for them if they can read the terrain, especially since a lot of Pixar's recent flops have been quite good in my book and absolutely deserve reconsideration.

Whether or not the administration is smart enough to scout out what those avenues are ...

Anyways, I saw the writing on the wall, box office wise, but I didn't anticipate it hitting literal bottom. That's gotta hurt. Good thing Gatto slid in just as the door was closing, because I'm not sure how many more originals we'll be seeing over the next decade.

[Sotiris]

Is there a world where original Disney and Pixar films take a hit with their initial box office, but as the films grow a fan base through Disney+, they turn a profit through merch, theme parks, and eventually theatrical sequels? That seems to have been the case with Encanto and (to much less dismal initial box office results) Moana.

Yes, that can happen, but it's rare. Into the Spider-Verse is a non-Disney example of that as well. But for every Encanto and Moana, there's a Raya, Strange World, and Wish. More often than not, films that perform poorly at the box office, don't end up becoming hits on streaming or home video.

Good thing Gatto slid in just as the door was closing, because I'm not sure how many more originals we'll be seeing over the next decade.

I think that will mostly depend on how Hoppers performs next year.

[Farerb]

I'll watch this film eventually, either in theaters or on Disney+, but I'm not in a hurry.

[PatchofBlue]

Good thing Gatto slid in just as the door was closing, because I'm not sure how many more originals we'll be seeing over the next decade.

I think that will mostly depend on how Hoppers performs next year.

They'll have to radically rethink how they market their films before then, or we'll all be here again come March.

The Spotlight on Pixar Intensifies as ‘Elio’ Becomes Latest Original Animated Pic to Crash Land
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 236297754/

Publicly, Disney execs are putting on a brave face and suggesting that Elio can rebound and find its stride, much as Pixar’s original animated film Elemental did in 2023 on its way to grossing nearly $500 million globally after a $29.6 million start, not adjusted for inflation. Elio boasts stellar audience exit scores and even stronger reviews. But internally, no one is kidding themselves or trying to sugarcoat the results. Ultimately, Elio may not even crack $300 million.

That doesn’t mean Disney and Pixar are waving the white flag of surrender and banishing original storytelling to the hinterlands. If anything, Elio shines a light on a course correction that was already underway, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

Adds a source close the film, “While its opening numbers may not reflect its ambition, the film is a reminder of the kind of creative swing the studio still believes in, and that the industry still needs. As Pixar moves forward, it’s not abandoning originality — it’s looking for ways to launch it more effectively, while keeping beloved characters close at hand. In the end, the goal remains the same: tell stories that resonate across generations.”

Fingers crossed, but I also won't be surprised if we don't get a new original announced until like 2030.

‘Elio' Misfire Could Hasten Demise Of Original Animation, Wall Street Analyst Says, But "Don't Blame Film Execs, Blame The Audience"
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/e ... ngNewsSerp

I mean, I do kind of blame film execs for things like demoting them to direct-to-streaming fare, but I also have frustration with audiences not putting their money where their mouth is.

[Disney's Divinity]

Sleeping Beauty was massive at its premiere, not like Pinocchio or Bambi. It had more of a Tangled situation going on.

I'm not surprised. Saw that one coming from a mile away. Strange World, Treasure Planet, Lightyear--scifi is seldom a good mix with animation. This one in particular reminded me of TP and SW as far as showing off all these ugly, irritating aliens and their designs in the commercials. I think Lilo & Stitch is more of a fluke. And it makes sense because the movie is primarily set in Hawaii--it didn't take the humans to space, but the other way around. That and it did lean into classic Disney IP to advertise itself and make the concept understood to audiences. Anyway, not a surprise.

I'm not sure Gatto looks good enough to be a massive film, but I could see it being a soft lift for them. A Ratatoille type of film in sensibility maybe. That said, it might be like how Wish was similar to Moana; Ratatouille and Moana were huge because they came following a string of hits and simply kept going, but probably wouldn't have worked as launchpads out of a dark period the same way Wish failed. But regardless, you gotta start turning things back the right direction somewhere, hopefully Wish and Gatto are the Oliver & Company and TGMD type films that sort of moved the ship slowly forward for TLM to really take off. I still think WDAS need that trio of fairy tale or legend-inspired films to get them going, not so sure about what could do it for PIXAR since they don't have a roadmap back from previous dark spells to go by like WDAS does.

[DisneyJedi]

I don’t want to sound like some conspiracy nut, but I genuinely think Disney is doing this to Pixar on purpose. Because they probably knew that a live action remake of a beloved animated film would overshadow one of their original films. Then they hardly marketed Elio, to add insult to injury. And don’t get me started on how they sent three of Pixar’s original films from the last five years straight to Disney+.

It’s just like how Disney purposely killed their hand-drawn films’ chances by having them released the same time as and overshadowed by not only the first Avatar movie and that Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel, but also the last Harry Potter film.

[PatchofBlue]

Counterprogramming can actually work really well if the cards line up right. "Frozen" went up against "Catching Fire," and both films were fine. "Big Hero 6" went up against "Interstellar," and both films were fine. "Inside Out" went up against the first "Jurassic World," and both films were fine.

I feel like in cases where a film was overshadowed by a more powerful title, I feel like there were additional factors that penalized the film's chance to earn attention. It's hard to make "Winnie the Pooh" a box office priority.

Though, as I said earlier, I do think one specific part of Elio's box office woes come from going up against "How to Train Your Dragon," which feeds a very similar part of the market and would actually divide audiences. But, again, this is Pixar's typical window. Universal was the invasive species here.

[PatchofBlue]

https://variety.com/2025/film/box-offic ... 236443608/

In third place, Disney’s intergalactic Pixar adventure “Elio” continues to face fierce headwinds from fellow PG offerings “How to Train Your Dragon” and another Disney tentpole, “Lilo & Stitch.” In its sophomore outing, “Elio” brought in $10.7 million from 3,750 venues. That’s a 49% decline from its $20 million debut, which ranked as the worst start in modern history for Pixar. Despite solid reviews and positive audience scores, “Elio” has grossed only $73 million worldwide. The $150 million-budgeted property is shaping up to be a big money loser for Disney.

Dang, I guess this dispels the movie's chances of an Elemental-style rebound to offset the losses.

I saw the film for a second time yesterday and still enjoyed it very much. The pacing that had thrown me off a little for the first time felt way less intrusive this round. I guess my only real gripe is that Brendan Hunt's character feels a little underused, and they could have found a way to write his character out.