We ask ourselves time and time again why studios keep regurgitating old ideas, remake after remake, reboot after reboot and most recently live-action after live-action remake and there’s a reason for that. Audiences are not responding to original ideas and original content as Elio is the recent victim of an animated box-office flop.
Despite positive reviews Elio has performed abysmally at the box office taking an estimated $21m in North America and $14m internationally from its $150 million budget.
It seems that audiences are resonating with things that are familiar to them as is proven in the recent How To Train Your Dragon live-action remake that has done absolutely outstanding at the box office scooping a total of $358.2 million globally already from its $150 million budget smashing records and gaining stellar reviews.
Elio marks Pixar’s worst box office opening ever and that’s a real shame as the story is solid.
The film revolves around an orphaned boy whose dream of being abducted by a friendly alien comes true.
From a studio that brought us Toy Story, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo you know the story is there but as far as marketing goes, I haven’t seen too much about this film to even know that it was released.
Could this be a marketing blunder or are audiences just expecting to go and see things that are more familiar to them, you only need to look at the most recent Inside Out 2 sequel which has amassed a billion dollar total globally back in 2024.
Audiences just aren’t resonating with original ideas it seems.
If Pixar need to recoup some cash quickly then I’m sure another sequel to Incredibles would do the trick, still Pixar’s most successful opening weekend in its 38 year history.
You know what to do guys!
But whilst that may be an easy financial recoup it is a story state of affairs when we can’t embrace original stories anymore and instead we get rehashed classics to drive forward future studio survivals.
A sorry and sad state indeed.
