Ready to blast off into space withElio? Great, because the 2025 animatedPixarfilm will soon be headed to a home near you on digital.Eliofollows an 11-year-old boy named Elio Solís (Yonas Kibreab), who has a difficult time making friends at school. One day, he is abducted by aliens, and the intergalactic creatures become his new friends. But there is only one problem: he becomes mistaken for Earth’s new leader, and he is in no way prepared to take on such a huge role.
Pixar announced that audiences will have a chance to watchElioon digital on August 19, and it will also be available to purchase on Blu-ray on September 9. According to the official press release, Pixar stated:
“The digital and Blu-ray offer hours of exclusive bonus content including astronautic and artistic featurettes plus a gag reel, deleted scenes and a peek at Pixar’s Easter Egg inclusions. The 4K UHD will be available in a collectible limited edition SteelBook® with astronomically appealing artwork and packaging, displaying the beauty and wonder of Elio’s adventure, along with a couple of his new extraterrestrial friends.”
Pixar had high hopes for its latest original film, which was expected to earn just as much as the animation company’s latest box office success,Inside Out 2. Last year, the sequel to 2015’sInside OutbecamePixar’s highest-grossing film of all time, earning a whopping $1.698 billion worldwide, according toBox Office Mojo— even surpassing the long-awaited sequel,Incredibles 2, which made $1.242 billion at the box office. And yet, Disney-Pixar’sEliofailed to lift off and bring audiences along for an intergalactic adventure. Pixar had its worst opening weekend ever withElio.
The animated film grossed approximately $21 million during its opening weekend in the United States despite having a $250 million production budget, resulting in a huge financial loss for Pixar and Disney.Elio’s performance is often compared to another box office flop for the studio:Disney’sElemental. However, the 2023 animated film earned more money in comparison toElio, grossing $29 million at the box office during its opening weekend. AndElementalperformed even better overall, making $496 million worldwide, whileEliogrossed a total of $130 million globally. This further proves thatEliowas a huge disappointment, especially for a studio like Pixar, which has made blockbuster hits likeToy Story, The IncrediblesandFinding Nemo. But there may be more toElio’spoor performance than just low box office numbers.
Pixar’s ‘Elio’ Was Supposed To Be an Entirely Different Movie
As it turns out,Eliounderwent several changes and challenges during its production, which resulted in Pixar creating an entirely different movie from what was initially pitched to the studio. Originally, perThe Hollywood Reporter, Elio was supposed to be a “queer-coded character” that heavily reflected the original director, Adrian Molina’s identity as an openly gay filmmaker. In the end,Eliounderwent several huge changes throughout production, such as making the character more masculine following suggestions from the higher-ups. But it was when the studio conducted an early screening of the film and audience members shared their indifference towards seeingElioin theaters that the bosses at Pixar wanted to start from square one.
Also, around this time, Molina showed the higher-ups a new cut for the film. According to numerous sources, the filmmaker was “hurt by the conversation.” As a result, Molina exited the project, and the studio made additional changes toElioand cut out a lot of the original plot points and scenes implemented by Molina, causing more creatives working on the film to step away as well.
“I was deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made,” said former Pixar assistant editor Sarah Ligatich, who worked as a member of the company’s internal LGBTQ group, PixPRIDE, duringElio’s production. Another Pixar animator who was attached to the film told THR, “Suddenly, you remove this big, key piece, which is all about identity, andEliojust becomes about totally nothing."
Now, we’re not saying thatElio’spoor performance at the box office is directly tied to the numerous changes that took place during production, but it is something to consider. With the original director stepping down and several creatives leaving the project as a result of eliminating Elio’s sexual identity, it leads us to believe thatEliolost the magic that made it so special. MaybeEliocould have been a huge success, or maybe it just wasn’t the hit Pixar thought it would be. Either way, it’s sad to hear what happened toElio, and it would have been awesome to see Adrian Molina’s original version.
