$300M Elio Tracking for $30M: Pixar's Biggest Box Office Bomb Yet?

Pixar's next big release, Elio, lands in theaters this weekend—and unless something miraculous happens, it's heading straight for the wrong kind of history. With a projected opening weekend of just $30 million (and that's the optimistic version), Elio is tracking to become one of Pixar's worst box office openings ever, second only to Elemental's $29.5M debut.

The catch? Elemental actually pulled off a comeback—word of mouth saved it, and it ended up grossing nearly $500 million worldwide. Whether Elio can do the same is... unclear, to say the least.

For one thing, buzz is almost nonexistent. Marketing's been minimal. The review embargo just lifted, and it's sitting at 61 on Metacritic and 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not a disaster, but definitely not a reason to rush out on opening weekend.

The film follows a kid named Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) who accidentally gets zapped into space and is mistaken for Earth's ambassador. There's a solid voice cast—Zoe Saldaña, Jameela Jamil, Brad Garrett—but even that hasn't been able to drum up much hype.

Behind the scenes, this thing's been a mess. Elio was originally supposed to release in March 2024, but delays, rewrites, and creative turnover pushed it to June 2025. Sources say Pixar's Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter has been stressed over this one for a while, and it's not hard to see why.

Director Adrian Molina was quietly shuffled out in 2024, officially due to "scheduling conflicts" (sure), and replaced by Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, both of Turning Red fame. Molina still has a co-director credit, but the movie looks and feels very different than it did two years ago.

Case in point: compare the 2023 trailer to the 2025 version. The old one leaned heavy on emotional beats—Elio as a withdrawn, lonely kid with a complicated relationship with his mom. The new one? Way lighter. Jokes, side characters, and a more playful vibe. The tone shift isn't subtle. Character arcs have been rewritten, and several roles—including villains—have been reworked entirely.

Insiders say Elio may have cost as much as $300 million. For a film that's getting a soft release and modest reviews, that's a brutal number. Unless Elio pulls off an Elemental-style turnaround, this might go down as Pixar's biggest financial flop to date.