Pixar’s “Elio” represents a bigger headwind for Hollywood

Disney Pixar Animation Studio had the worst opening ever over the weekend. The problem is not unique.

“Elio,” the story of a boy mistakenly identified as the ambassador of the Earth in Space, recorded ticket sales of just $21 million in the studio’s first three days at the theatre.

The overwhelming performance fits a recent pattern during Pixar’s release. While franchise films have been fascinated by movie fans, the studio’s original dishes have been far less successful in recent years.

Look at 2023’s Elemental compared to the studio’s second-highest opener, Inside Out 2, the studio’s second-highest opener, Inside Out 2, and 2023’s lowest open, Inside Out 2.

However, Pixar is not the only one who has the original story flat. Other Disney Animation Arms, Walt Disney Animation, and even inside rival Animation Studios Universal and Paramountwe’ve seen sequels outweigh new stories like “Elio” that aren’t tied to previous works. This phenomenon is also being held entirely in live-action films.

“A survey of post-performance investigations of animated films shows that there is a gap between the originals [intellectual property] Doug Creutz, analyst at TD Cowen, wrote in a note to investors published Monday.

In the wake of the pandemic, the studio has sought to offer films that viewers already know well, such as sequels and stories based on books and comics. This contributes to a flood of franchise content from studios with large media libraries.

From 2022 onwards, less than a third of the approximately 30 animation wide releases can be categorized as shown by the original ComScore data.

Disney has been a long-awaited empire since its first title in 1937, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” For decades it was the dominant force in the industry, with only a few hiccups along the way.

Part of its strength came from the 2006 acquisition of Pixar.

At the time, Walt Disney animations came out of several years of mistakes in Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Home of the Range and Chicken Little, but Pixar became a hit after being hit with titles such as Monsters, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles.

Over the next decade, the two animation engines have created popular original films such as “Frozen”, “Wreck-It Ralph”, “Zootopia”, “Inside Out” and “Coco.” At the same time, Disney has returned to a successful, famous story.

However, the pandemic has had a hard time with its animation arms, especially Pixar. Continuing restrictions and concerns about new covid variations have left their children home, and Disney has sent “Soul,” “Luka,” and “Rise Red” directly to the newly created streaming service Disney+.

For a while, industry experts have denounced this strategy that Disney cannot seduce audiences to watch non-franchise films in theaters. Others felt that the company was too socially conscious in its storytelling and alienated the potential film fan segment.

But at the same time, competition in the animation industry was growing from Universal and Sony. Warner Bros. And Paramount. The family was able to select more content from the homes of the streaming service, not just at the big screen. This made parents cranky about which titles they were going to take their children to and which titles they were waiting to enter the home market.

“Elio” opened on June 20th, a few weeks after the live-action remake of Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” and Universal’s “How to Train to Your Dragon.” These films were still portraying the audience by the time new Pixar films entered the contest.

This growing competition and changing consumer habits have led Hollywood to rely more heavily on existing stories with built-in fanbase.

“For the audience, the sequel is a pleasant food,” said Peter Chassy, ​​chairman of Creative Media. “It’s the anti-‘Forrest Gump’ effect. You always know what you’re trying to get.”

The film industry has long relied on franchise films to make money at the box office, but that trend has grown exponentially in recent years. The top 20 best-selling domestic releases each year since 2016 were original titles.

In fact, in 2024, none of the top 20 films were original storylines.

“For Disney and other major traditional studios, the animated sequel is a safe bet in a world full of growing existential threats as we face ever-changing streaming economics, new big-tech Hollywood moguls and now the great unknowns of generative AI,” Csathy said. “The media landscape has never been more demanding than ever. Wall Street has become more demanding than ever, so the sequel to the successful animated story is the rest of the safe haven.

The salvation bounty of original fares like “Elio” is the second possibility of wind.

The film still runs a long way in theaters, garnering ticket sales in the weeks and months of opening weekends and thriving on streaming platforms. Delayed fandoms open up further opportunities for future installments, tie-in, or merchandising.

Watch “encanto” which hit theaters during the pandemic. The film arrived at the theatres at a time of great uncertainty about public health safety, and although the play was limited, it was popular in the home market. That’s why Disney is incorporating the film into updating its Animal Kingdom theme park in Florida.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of CNBC and NBCuniversal.