Pixar's Elemental Fails to Heat up at the Box Office

Pixar's animated film Elemental opened to a record-low $29.5 million domestically in June 2023, the worst opening weekend in the studio's 28-year theatrical history. The result significantly underperformed pre-release projections of around $40 million and fell below the previous low-water mark set by The Good Dinosaur in 2015.

Industry analysts pointed to several contributing factors: the film was not based on established intellectual property, and audiences had grown accustomed to Pixar films debuting on Disney+ after Soul, Luca, and Turning Red skipped theatrical releases during the pandemic. Despite the poor opening, Elemental earned a strong A CinemaScore from audiences who did see it, suggesting positive word-of-mouth had potential to improve its long-term performance.

Elemental legged out to $496 million worldwide on a $200 million budget; Pixar's real trough came two years later. Elio opened to $20.8 million in June 2025, the studio's lowest ever, before Hoppers rebounded with $45.3 million in March 2026 and Toy Story 5 set a franchise record of $160 million domestic on June 19, per Deadline. The sequel has since passed $1.1 billion worldwide. The losers are original stories: Variety notes original animation has struggled while Inside Out 2 and Zootopia 2 cleared at least $1.6 billion apiece, and Pixar's D23 slate leans on Incredibles 3 and Coco 2. The next original test is Gatto, a black cat in Venice, slated for March 5, 2027.