Elio has suffered the lowest opening ever for Pixar at the box office, with How to Train Your Dragon continuing to dominate at the box office.
The original animated feature opened to $35 million globally, with $21 million domestic and a worryingly low $14 million internationally. That’s the worst three-day opening in Pixar history, behind even Elemental’s $44.5 million opening weekend haul in back in 2023. To add context, Pixar’s Inside Out 2 launched to a whopping $295 million globally during its opening weekend last year.
But Pixar and parent company Disney will be hoping Elio follows in Elemental’s footsteps, given the latter ended up with just shy of $500 million globally during its theatrical run. In Elio’s favor is that it has yet to release in China, Japan, and Spain, and it will be in theaters as schools break for the summer holidays next month. It’s also well-received. IGN’s Elio review saw a 9/10. We said: “The latest animated feature from Pixar, Elio boasts dazzling animation — and even more striking emotional depth.”
Elio’s opening weekend struggles may have been fueled by the continued success of fellow family movie How to Train Your Dragon, which is up to $350 million worldwide on its second weekend and remains the number one movie in the U.S. A sequel is already in the works.
Elio also has Disney’s own Lilo & Stitch to contend with — the live-action remake is up to $910.3 million globally after just five weekends, and looks on course to become the first movie of 2025 to break the $1 billion barrier.
The other release of note was 28 Years Later, the horror zombie sequel from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland. It got off to a strong start, with $60 million globally. The domestic haul of $30 million is the biggest for a Boyle-directed movie, and the $30 million international launch is higher than Sinners managed.
The question for Boyle will be whether 28 Years Later does well enough to get the green light for the planned third film in the new trilogy to move forward, with the second already filmed. IGN’s 28 Years Later review returned a 9/10. We said: “28 Years Later is as potent and timely an exploration of cultural strife as the original, and Danny Boyle and Alex Garland tug at the heartstrings with bloody, deadly skill.”
And for film fans keeping count, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is now on $540.9 million after five weekends, John Wick spinoff Ballerina is up to $104.5 million, Final Destination Bloodlines is on $280.1 million, and Sinners has an impressive $363.8 million worldwide.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
