Against All Odds, Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ Just Did Something Miraculous

Pixar’s Elemental is never going to be a success story. However, that doesn’t stop it from slowly chugging along at the domestic box office. The latest film in Pixar’s long list of original titles hasn’t done anything to wow anyone since its release last month, but it did recently break a milestone no one thought possible. Elemental has been fighting an uphill battle, so it deserves a pat on the back for accomplishing something good. Let’s break down Pixar’s Elemental box office achievement.

Pixar’s Elemental Box Office Flop

Pixar Studios has been wrestling with problems created by the Disney+ streaming service ever since the end of the pandemic. Many of its modern releases have failed to turn out an audience because it saw so many projects go straight to Disney+ during the height of Covid-19. Questions have also been raised about whether the studio is producing quality content anymore.

With the rising costs of going to the theater, Disney has had to work much harder to convince its audiences to head to the cinema. Elemental is just another victim of this brave new world. It pulled in a mere $29.5 on its opening weekend and has slowly fizzled out since then.

Before the pandemic, Pixar films were almost always a goldmine for Disney, even if it wasn’t a sequel to an established franchise. Toy Story 4 broke $1.073 billion globally at the box office in 2019. Incredibles 2 also crossed $1 billion, and Coco hit almost $800 million in 2017, even as an original story.

However, last year’s Lightyear barely broke $200 million. Audiences have been trained to be patient and wait for streaming if the movie doesn’t spark excitement to justify the cost. Elemental isn’t a bad film by any means, but it did a poor job getting people to invest in it, and Disney did it no favors with its marketing.

Elemental Achieves a Victory

It is not all doom and gloom for Pixar. While Elemental isn’t a box-office hit, that hasn’t stopped it from achieving a small victory. The film just crossed $100 million at the domestic box office. With a budget of $200 million, this number doesn’t seem like a win. However, it is the only original animated film to cross this threshold since 2018.

Animated sequels like 2019’s Frozen 2 sailed into success with little worry. Even Illumination’s Super Mario Bros Movie easily crossed $100 million this year. However, these films have familiarity on their side. Elemental is now the highest-grossing original animated story this decade.

#Elemental is expected to cross $100M at the domestic box office today.

It will become the first original animated movie of this decade to achieve this. pic.twitter.com/AolgBgjd6Q

— Disney Animation Promos (@DisneyAPromos) July 7, 2023

Pixar’s Uncertain Future

Is this a sign that things can turn around for Pixar? They obviously have a long road ahead of them to regain their former glory. Many have said the studio is now “on life support” because of Elemental‘s box office performance. Disney will want to see some major hits if Pixar wants to retain its large budgets for future projects.

Related: Disney Just “Quietly Canceled” First-Ever Pixar Series Spin-Off

However, there is hope. The studio is currently working on a sequel to its successful 2015 film, Inside Out. There is plenty of early hype surrounding it, and the premise of witnessing the emotions of a moody teenager leaves room for a hilariously good time. Further out is Pixar’s next original title, Elio. It hits theaters next year, but it remains to be seen if the early footage convinced people to check it out.

Audiences are hard to please for many studios today. There is a lot of animosity toward sequel overload, but it doesn’t encourage companies to produce original content if no one goes to see it. Disney is still trying to find a good middle ground between the two, and Elemental‘s small victory shows that hope is not completely gone.