Sean McNulty, Katey Rich and Ankler deputy editor Christopher Rosen are shaking their heads over the weekend’s biggest box-office story: Elio’s struggle. The Pixar animated movie opened with just $21 million in North America, the lowest debut total ever for a Pixar release.
“Pixar can still open a film,” Sean says, citing the studio’s recent highs (Inside Out 2’s record-breaking $154.2 million opening weekend, the most for an animated movie) and sequel lows (Lightyear, $50.5 million opening weekend). But after the studio premiered multiple original projects onto Disney+ during the pandemic, including Soul, Luca and Turning Red, “I think that has a lasting effect here,” Sean says. “This kind of opening, this is a bigger problem.”
For Katey, another problem with the release strategy is the date: Elio arrived in theaters on June 20, one week after the live-action How to Train Your Dragon flew to great heights. The Universal movie ruled the box office again over the weekend with an estimated $37 million.
“Dragon is this massive IP play, [Pixar] could have done better for themselves,” Katey says, noting that the third weekend in June has been a traditional Pixar stronghold. (Sean: “Read the room, man! We all knew Dragon was going to do well.”)
Chris has another reason Elio might have stumbled: The HBO Max premiere of A Minecraft Movie: “I know for a fact my daughter and her friends watched Minecraft this weekend.”
But the box office wasn’t all bad. With Sony’s 28 Years Later, Danny Boyle enjoyed his biggest debut ever ($30 million). But while reviews were strong, Sean wonders if the film’s CinemaScore grade (B) spells trouble ahead. And why A24’s Materialists remains a strong play for adults, even with divisive reactions.
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