Pixar knew that Elio (pic), an original space adventure, would most likely struggle in its first weekend at the box office.

Animated movies based on original stories have become harder sells in theatres, even for the once-unstoppable Pixar. At a time when streaming services have proliferated and the broader economy is unsettled, families want assurance that spending the money for tickets will be worth it.

But the turnout for Elio was worse – much worse – than even Pixar had expected. The film cost at least US$250mil to make and market. It collected an estimated US$21mil from the evening of June 19 to June 22 at theatres in North America, according to Comscore, which compiles box-office data.

It was Pixar’s worst opening-weekend result. The previous bottom was Elemental, which arrived to US$30mil in 2023.

In May, when the Elio marketing campaign began to hit high gear, Pixar and its corporate owner, Disney, had hoped that it would, in the worst-case scenario, match the Elemental number. Instead, it fell 30% short.

In wide release overseas, Elio collected an additional US$14mil, on a par with the initial international results for Elemental.

Quality did not appear to be a factor. Reviews for Elio were mostly positive, and ticket buyers gave the movie an A grade in CinemaScore exit polls. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score stood at 91% positive on June 22.

On June 22, Disney said it hoped a broader audience would find Elio over the coming weeks. The company pointed to Elemental, which overcame weak initial sales to ultimately collect nearly US$500mil worldwide. – ©2025 The New York Times Company