After facing widespread backlash for giving their latest theatrical release a whopping $200 million budget, Pixar President Jim Morris is shedding new light on why the high cost of their movies is generally misleading while defending the studio’s “all tentpoles” approach to filmmaking.
So far, the 2023 box office has seen high highs and low lows, with unexpected underdogs like Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie(2023) on track to be one of, if not the highest-grossing blockbusters of the year. Sony and Marvel’s distribution of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) also fared exceptionally well for an animated superhero sequel, as well as the affectionately-dubbed “Barbenheimer” double feature that’s currently rocking theaters worldwide.
Still, there’s also been plenty of box office flops, including Harrison Ford’s final adventure as the titular archeologist in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) and DC’s ill-fated Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023). But wedged in the middle of these extremes is perhaps one of the strangest cases in Disney and Pixar history: Elemental (2023).
Following the charming love story of the fiery Ember (Leah Lewis) and the go-with-the-flow Wade (Mamoudou Athie), Elemental premiered in theaters in June to unusually little fanfare from audiences. Pixar, which has dominated the 3D animation market since 1995’s Toy Story, is known for pumping out crowd-pleasing, critically-acclaimed hits, so expectations were high for Elemental to follow suit. But oddly enough, the all-ages rom-com stumbled in its debut with $29.5 million domestically and $44.5 million globally, marking a record low for the studio.
It’s common sense in Hollywood that if your movie doesn’t travel well, you only have the domestic box office to line your wallet. But surprisingly, the opposite turned out to be the case with Elemental, which made an impressive comeback at the international box office after a poor debut week—something Pixar’s parent company, Disney, noted in a rare press release earlier this week.
Credit: Disney
Responding to critics and news outlets that deemed the Peter Sohn-helmed movie a “flop,” Disney pointed out that Pixar, a studio known for its litany of blockbuster hits, sparked continued interest in Elemental thanks to its release at a time where not many family films are available in theaters. The statement also noted the movie’s 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, quoting Disney’s EVP of Theatrical Distribution Tony Chambers, who said, “After a disappointing opening weekend, we’re really pleased that audiences have discovered what a great movie it is.”
But even though audiences eventually came around to Elemental, initially, box office analysts were skeptical that the Pixar flick would come close to breaking even on its jaw-dropping $200 million budget, which seemed outrageous compared to other animated films. For reference, Sony’s Spider-Verse sequel was made on a budget of just $100 million, while The Super Mario Bros. Movie also cost Illumination around $100 million.
Credit: Disney Pixar
Many accused Disney and Pixar of being careless with their money, which undoubtedly contributed to Dial of Destiny‘s downfall, as it barely managed to break even on its reported $350 million price tag. People also pointed out how Elemental had virtually nonexistent marketing, leading many to wonder how the studio allocated its multi-million dollar budget in the first place.
Recently, Pixar President Jim Morris provided some much-needed clarity during an interview with Variety, where he explained that Pixar and Disney Animations are the only two studios that make animated movies in the United States, with all their artists under one roof. Because of this, their movies’ lofty budgets also include executives’ salaries and other similar costs, so “there’s some accounting context that gets lost.” Still, Morris clarified that their movies are expensive regardless due to extensive visual effects:
That’s a constant question. One of the ways you make these films for less money, and almost all of our competitors do this, is to do work offshore. It’s only us and Disney Animation that makes animation films in the U.S. anymore with all of the artists under one roof. We feel like having a colony of artists approach has differentiated our films. We hope to find a path to make that work. “Elemental” was particularly expensive because all the characters have visual effects. We had been getting the film costs down.
The other thing I’ll say about our film budgets is that our whole company exists only to make these films. So when we say a budget, that is everything it takes to run the whole company. Sometimes, the budgets [for other films] that get reported are physical production costs and don’t include the salaries of executives and things like that. Our budgets include all of that, so there’s some accounting context that gets lost. But that doesn’t mean they’re not expensive.
Credit: Disney
So, will Pixar try to be, perhaps, a little more financially savvy in the future? Well, given the last-minute turnaround of Elemental‘s box office, probably not. The movie was a massive gamble for the studio, who not only gave it an astoundingly high budget but also greenlit a film with an original IP—a refreshing departure from the endless stream of sequels and reboots. But despite the scare in the beginning, it ultimately paid off, though its unconventional route to the breakeven point raises concerns about budgeting for a movie that should’ve turned an instant profit.
With competing studios like Illumination, Sony Pictures, and even Nickelodeon creating massive animated hits for nearly half of the cost of Elemental, Pixar might need to reevaluate its strategy moving forward. While it is admirable that the company hasn’t resorted to wholly sourcing its animation from overseas quite yet, it might be time to reconsider, especially after Soul (2020) and Turning Red (2021) went straight to Disney+ during the pandemic, fundamentally changing how people view Pixar movies. Morris seems aware of this shift in viewership trends, even admitting in his statement that before Elemental went into production, Pixar “had been getting the film costs down.”
Credit: Disney Pixar
Still, Pixar has a promising year ahead thanks to Elio and Inside Out 2, both slated for 2024. Hopefully, there’s a silver lining to Elemental‘s bumpy box office and that the studio’s upcoming releases won’t be impacted too much by the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Have you seen Elemental yet? If so, what did you think? Was it worth its $200 million budget? Let us know in the comments below.
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