Regardless of strong critiques, Pixar’s newest movie, Elio, doesn’t appear to be a success.

The studio’s newest animated characteristic opened with simply an estimated $21 million in ticket gross sales in U.S. theaters — which makes it the worst opening within the historical past of Pixar, the much-beloved creators of cartoon classics like Toy Story, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles.

That $21 million quantity is considerably down from Pixar’s earlier worst opening weekend, which got here in 2023 with Elemental, which grossed $29.6 million in theaters in its first days of launch. (The very first Toy Story opened to roughly that quantity as properly — however that was 30 years in the past and that quantity shouldn’t be adjusted for inflation.)

If there’s any excellent news right here for Pixar it’s that regardless of its weak opening weekend, Elemental wound up taking part in properly in theaters all by the summer time of 2023; it wound up grossing near half a billion {dollars} worldwide. It’s doable Elio, which acquired pretty sturdy critiques from critics, might generate optimistic phrase of mouth that drives some households to the theater within the weeks forward.

(On this author’s opinion, the movie is nice and humorous; not amongst Pixar’s greatest, however definitely not amongst their worst both. If Elio doesn’t grow to be a success in theaters, it should certainly discover an viewers finally on Disney+.)

READ MORE: Two Brutally Trustworthy Youngsters Evaluate Elio

One challenge for Elio, not like quite a lot of animated films these days (together with Elemental), is that it confronted sturdy competitors for household audiences this weekend. The highest-grossing movie in theaters was DreamWorks’ remake of Tips on how to Prepare Your Dragon. In its second weekend of launch, Dragon earned an estimated $37 million, bringing its home complete to $160.4 million up to now.

The New York Occasions notes that stated household viewers tends to show up for acquainted manufacturers today — like Tips on how to Prepare Your Dragon — whereas authentic movies that aren’t based mostly on current IP have, of their phrases, “fallen out of favor on the field workplace.” They cite current flops like Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken and Migration as examples. 

That principle definitely appears extra believable when you think about that Pixar’s final film was a sequel (2024’s Inside Out 2) and it was turned out to be the studio’s largest worldwide hit in historical past. It made $1.69 billion in theaters.

Pixar at the moment has two movies scheduled for 2026: One authentic, referred to as Hoppers, and one sequel, Toy Story 5. I do know which one I’d wager earns extra money in theaters.