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The performance of Pixar’s first release of the year, Elemental, on its debut release weekend, was underwhelming, reports stated. The romantic drama hit the theaters on June 16, 2023, almost 20 days after it was screened at the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
The new film, directed by Peter Sohn, has settled for $48.5 million globally, much below expectations, reported Box Office Mojo. Thus, it has been touted as Pixar’s worst opener ever.
Pixar, owned by The Walt Disney Company, is noted for some incredible films that have won accolades and Academy Awards. Some of its prominent inclusions are Toy Story and its sequels, Finding Nemo, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Inside Out, Soul, and The Incredibles, among others.
So, when Elemental emerged as the worst of the lot, at least as far as the commercial response was concerned, it was indeed surprising. As soon as Discussing Film made the news public, netizens rallied on Twitter to remark how Disney is now “washed,” which is equivalent to exhausted in slang.
The fresh launch comes a year after Pixar released Lightyear on June 17, 2022, and Turning Red on March 11, 2022. While Turning Red was a success overall, Lightyear was a box office bomb despite being critically praised. Elemental too was liked by reviewers, but it clearly didn’t translate to a ticket window win.
"They didn't really promote it at all": Fans react as Elemental fails at the box office
As per Variety, box office pundits pitched the Pixar film to earn $35–40 million on the first weekend in the domestic sector (the United States and Canada). The animated flick, which was dropped in 4,035 theaters, instead grossed $33.3 million, below the expected mark, the publication added.
In their analysis, Deadline Hollywood and TheWrap said that the below-par marketing surrounding Elemental, viewers getting habituated to Pixar’s Disney+ release route, taken mostly during the pandemic, and a stiff fight from the fellow animated film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, might have contributed to the film’s unexpected failure.
Interestingly, the moment the pop culture portal Discussing Film made the disappointing update official, social media users commented as to how "original animation" is suffering and that the new film didn’t look ambitious.
Based on a story by Sohn, John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh, Elemental, which is subtitled Forces of Nature in some markets, features the voices of Leah Lewis, Shila Ommi, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Catherine O'Hara.
It deals with a world where anthropomorphic elements of nature are inhabitants and there’s a love story between Ember Lumen, the fire element, and Wade Ripple, the water element.
Meanwhile, the upcoming slate of Pixar comprises Elio (helmed by Adrian Molina) and Inside Out 2, having Kelsey Mann as the director. While Elio is set for a March 1, 2024 outing, the latter is expected to arrive on June 14, 2024.
Elemental is running in theaters currently.
