Credit: Disney/PixarAfter a tough past year, things may finally be looking up for Pixar Animation.
Like plenty of studios, Pixar has struggled at the box office post-pandemic. Its first three releases after the onset of COVID-19 – Soul (2020), Luca (2021), and Turning Red (2022) – were shafted to Disney+ even after Disney started sending films straight back to theaters, with several Pixar employees coming forward to anonymously complain about the decision.
Related: Pixar Made ‘Elemental’ 10 Times, Hoping It Wouldn’t Flop
Even once Pixar returned to theaters, fortune was not on the studio’s side. Last year, Lightyear (2022) lost the studio an estimated $106 million after taking a creative risk on a film that told the story of Buzz Lightyear – but not quite as you know it. Instead, it followed space ranger Buzz Lightyear (this time a human voiced by Chris Evans, not a toy voiced by Tim Allen) who, after being marooned on the planet T’Kani Prime, tries to find his way back home.
Pixar’s still dealing with the fallout from Lightyear to this day. In May, Disney laid off 75 Pixar employees – including Lightyear director Angus MacLane and Galyn Susman, the employee who famously saved the original version of Toy Story 2 (1999).
When it came to releasing the studio’s latest original feature film, Elemental (2023), the pressure was on. Set in a world inhabited by residents, each made of one element, the movie tells the love story of Ember (who’s made of fire) and Wade (who’s made of water).
Romance is a different genre for Pixar. While the studio has dabbled with romantic sub-plots in the past, this is its most centric love story yet – making it yet another gamble that this time around simply had to pay off to redeem Pixar in the eyes of its audience, critics, and parent studio.
Related: ‘Elemental’ Picks Up Steam at the International Box Office
Elemental got off to a rocky start. Originally projected to make an already disappointing $35 million in its opening weekend, it instead debuted at $29.5 million. This gave it the unwanted title of the second-worst Pixar box office opening of all time, second only to Toy Story (1995) – which still earned more when adjusted for inflation and sold more tickets.
But now, more than a month after its initial release, things are finally looking up for Elemental. The film reportedly grossed $28.2 million on its fifth weekend in theaters, marking an impressive (and rare) 6% drop from its last weekend.
That now puts the film’s total gross at an estimated $311.7 million, which should lead to a final global run of approximately $420 million to $500 million.
This isn’t the first sleeper hit in recent Disney history. When Encanto (2021) was originally released in theaters, it didn’t exactly set the box office alight. Once added to Disney+, however, it gradually became a global phenomenon (thanks in no small part to the earworm that is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno) that topped the “most-watched” list on Disney+ in 2022.
After a slow start, this is exactly what Pixar needs to restore faith in original storytelling. With a handful of sequels on the way over the next few years – including Toy Story 5 and Inside Out 2 – fingers crossed that this is enough to remind the studio that innovative, creative stories still have a place in movie theaters.
Have you seen Elemental? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!