In one of the most surprising box office trends of the year, Pixar’s Elemental (2023) has continued to gain steam at theaters, despite having a less-than-stellar opening weekend.

Directed by Peter Sohn, Elemental was supposed to be one of Pixar’s most ambitious projects. The movie tells the story of the fire element Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) and the water element Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) as they fall in love despite their wildly different backgrounds. However, the film failed to catch on in theaters. Following a trend of most Disney movies as of late, Elemental underperformed despite the large amount of money put into it.
…or did it? While most movies that “bomb” would simply disappear after a few weeks, just look at The Flash (2023), Elemental stuck around. While it never reached number one, it has remained in the top five since its release on June 16. And it looks like that success isn’t just in the United States but worldwide as well.
‘Elemental’ Douses Failure Talk, Catches Fire Overseas

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While the story of Elemental‘s performance at the domestic box office is strange, its performance overseas is just as fascinating. Now in its fourth week at theaters, this love story between water and fire is just starting to heat up.
Elemental has gained $30 million overseas, signifying an increase in several international markets. This includes Australia (+32%), Korea (+14%), Brazil (+3%), Uruguay (+127%), New Zealand (+119%), Vietnam (+41%), Chile (+40%) and Israel (+13%). Korea is particularly notable because it’s actually the highest weekend the film has experienced in the country since opening.

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This would make Elemental‘s current global box office gross $252 million, $52 million over its budget. This is much better than many experts had predicted for the movie. Compare this to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), which dropped significantly from its opening weekend total. It is now being beaten by the considerably cheaper Insidious: Red Door (2023).
While it may have looked like Elemental was destined to be one of Pixar and Disney’s biggest failures due to bad marketing and complaints of “wokeness,” positive word of mouth and quality filmmaking have proven to be the things that makes a film flourish.
Do you think Elemental will continue to improve? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!