From Lightyear to Elio: Pixar Box Office Failures No One Saw Coming

Lightyear flopped in 2022, but if anyone thought things couldn't get worse, Elio just proved them wrong. It's Pixar's latest dud—and this time, there's no pandemic to blame.

What Happened to Elio?

Elio was supposed to be Pixar's comeback after years of direct-to-streaming releases. Instead, it hit theaters in June 2025 and crashed harder than anyone expected.

Financial Breakdown:

• Production Budget: $150 million
• Domestic Box Office: $63.8 million
• International Box Office: $53.7 million
• Worldwide Total: $117.5 million
• Opening Weekend: $20.8 million (32.7% of total gross)
• Average Theater Run: 3.6 weeks

It didn't even come close to recouping its budget. To break even, studios typically need to make 2 to 2.5 times the production budget thanks to marketing costs and revenue splits with theaters. By that math, Elio needed around $375 million just to start making a profit. It didn't even make back the production costs.

Why Did Elio Flop?

Unlike Onward or Soul, Elio can't hide behind COVID-19 or a Disney+ launch. This was a full theatrical release, with no pandemic restrictions and no early streaming option.

Part of the problem is that Elio wasn't a sequel, a spin-off, or a recognizable IP extension. It was a totally new story about a kid who accidentally gets mistaken for Earth's ambassador to aliens. The concept was weird, the trailers didn't help, and it had zero star power to draw in older audiences who grew up with Pixar.

As one Redditor put it bluntly: "No one knew what the hell this was."

There's also franchise fatigue with animation. Between Minions sequels, Disney's own flops, and parents still waiting for a streaming release, not every animated film can muscle its way to box office gold anymore.

Pixar's Other Bombs

Elio might be Pixar's most painful recent box office failure, but it's not the first:

Lightyear (2022)

• Budget: $200 million
• Worldwide Box Office: $226.4 million
• The Toy Story spin-off that nobody asked for, featuring Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear—not the toy, but the movie character the toy is based on. Between a confusing premise, stiff competition from Top Gun: Maverick, and audience disinterest, Lightyear barely scraped past its budget.

Onward (2020)

• Budget: $175 million
• Worldwide Box Office: $141.9 million
• Released just before COVID lockdowns hit, Onward had potential but was dead on arrival in theaters. Disney+ picked up the slack, but financially, it was a loss.

Soul (2020)

• Budget: $150 million
• Worldwide Box Office: $122 million
• Critically acclaimed and beloved by audiences—just not in theaters. Disney dumped it straight to streaming, and the late theatrical release in 2024 didn't help.

Luca (2021)

• Budget: Not disclosed, but typical Pixar budgets suggest around $150 million
• Worldwide Box Office: $49.7 million
• Another streaming-first casualty, Luca was the most streamed movie of 2021, but audiences had no reason to pay for tickets when it belatedly hit cinemas.

Turning Red (2022)

• Budget: $175 million
• Worldwide Box Office: $21.5 million
• The worst performer of the bunch, thanks to an initial streaming release that sapped any theatrical momentum. By the time it hit theaters in 2024, everyone who cared had already seen it.

Is This the End of Pixar's Box Office Magic?

If you're looking for a happy ending, there isn't one yet. Pixar's old formula—original stories with emotional gut punches—used to be a license to print money. But with Elio faceplanting and their last few releases barely clearing their budgets, the brand isn't what it used to be.

Audiences are harder to impress, kids are trained to wait for Disney+, and even nostalgia isn't a guaranteed safety net anymore. The studio that gave us Up and Toy Story is now facing an uphill climb just to stay relevant in theaters.

If Pixar can't fix this soon, Elio won't just be another failure—it'll be the cautionary tale that defines the studio's decline.