Pixar had its worst opening weekend ever with ‘Elio.’ What happened?

Aliens may have embraced Elio, but earthbound audiences did not, marking the lowest opening weekend ever for a Pixar film and highlighting the challenges for original animated movies.

“Elio” hauled in $21 million at the box office in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday, according to studio estimates, falling short of Walt Disney Co.-owned Pixar’s previous lowest domestic opening, 2023’s “Elemental,” which made $29.6 million in its debut. (1995’s “Toy Story” had a domestic opening weekend total of $29.1 million, not adjusted for inflation, though it was released ahead of Thanksgiving weekend and reached $39 million over that five-day period.)

The family-friendly film, which centers on an alien-loving boy who longs for a community that understands him, came in third at the box office behind Universal Pictures’ live-action remake “How to Train Your Dragon,” which maintained its grip on theaters, and Sony Pictures’ Danny Boyle-directed horror franchise revival “28 Years Later.”

“Elio” had strong reviews (84% “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes), but its soft opening underscores the postpandemic difficulty that original animated films have faced in attracting audiences, analysts said. The movie’s performance could also have been hurt by its timing — the film was up against “How to Train Your Dragon” and the long tail of Disney live-action remake “Lilo & Stitch.”

“It feels to me that it’s a good movie that got lost in the shuffle,” said Eric Handler, media and entertainment analyst at Roth Capital. For families, he said, “there’s only so many summer weekends a year, and you have to pick and choose which movies you do. ‘Elio’ just got squeezed out.”

Marketing may also have played a factor, with analysts noting that audiences may have been unfamiliar with the title, a critical issue especially for an original film with new characters. People grew up with Sonic the Hedgehog long before he got his own movie. A fresh story is a tougher sell with so many entertainment options out there.

Disney said in a statement that it was encouraged by the movie’s audience and critics’ review scores and hopeful “Elio” would be discovered by families and moviegoers throughout the summer, similar to what happened with “Elemental.” Despite a disappointing opening-weekend haul, “Elemental” went on to gross $496 million worldwide, propelled by word-of-mouth reviews.

The company also said it would continue to take swings on original animated intellectual property so it wasn’t reliant only on sequels and existing franchises. Pixar plans to release another original animated film next year called “Hoppers,” about technology that helps humans and animals communicate, followed by a 2027 original film called “Gatto.” It also plans to release “Toy Story 5” next year.

While originals have had a harder time at the box office, animated sequels or films based on existing intellectual property have proved consistent hits. Films like Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Disney’s “Moana 2” and Universal’s “Super Mario Bros. Movie” each grossed more than a billion dollars in worldwide box office revenue, with Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s “Despicable Me 4” hauling in $969 million.

By contrast, Universal’s 2023 original animated film “Migration” brought in $300 million worldwide. Even the critically acclaimed DreamWorks Animation title “The Wild Robot,” which is based on a 2016 children’s book, grossed $333 million.

But industry insiders and analysts have said that focusing solely on sequels and reboots risks making the animation business stale and that fresh stories are necessary for the health of the industry.

“We should celebrate when studios and production companies like Pixar and Disney take their best shot, create a really great movie — an original film — and with everyone decrying the lack of originality out there, at least they went for it,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “It will certainly be a big winner on Disney+. But there’s no sugarcoating the fact that this was an incredibly low opening weekend for a Pixar movie.”

Pixar’s track record with original animated films was nearly flawless for decades, with the occasional miss such as 2015’s “The Good Dinosaur.”

But the box office reception for its latest original films have been muted, largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pixar sent three of its original films — 2020’s “Soul,” 2021’s “Luca” and 2022”s “Turning Red” — straight to Disney+ to give families something to watch during the stay-at-home orders. But as the pandemic waned, families were some of the last to return to theaters as they got used to the ease of watching animated movies at home and were concerned about the health implications of enclosed spaces.

The reported budget for “Elio” was between $150 million and $200 million, which compounds the opening-weekend problems for Pixar. That number doesn’t include the tens of millions of dollars that go into a global marketing campaign. Studios split box office revenue with theaters.

Disney has said animation budgets are higher for Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios films because the work is done in the U.S., as opposed to outsourcing overseas where the work is cheaper.

The low opening weekend may not be the end for “Elio,” even if “Elemental”-esque box office longevity is not in its future. The fact that “Elio” had a theatrical release bodes well for its eventual debut on the Disney+ streaming platform since it will benefit from the additional marketing, Dergarabedian said. And “Elio” could be incorporated into Disney merchandise and theme park events, which could boost its visibility.

“Disney’s big enough and broad enough,” he said. “‘Elio’ will be a well-received film that’s absorbed into the Disney ecosystem.”