Will Pixar's Elio Break Through At The Box Office? Why Filmmakers Are Opting For Sequels Over Original Content

Pixar faces a major test this weekend with the release of its sci-fi animated original in cinemas.

It once seemed as though Pixar could not miss with its original films, creating instant classics about monsters, toys, fish and superhero families.

However, the Walt Disney-owned animation company has recorded disappointing box office numbers for its original content in recent years. Its last successful original film was 2017's Coco.

Pixar's latest release, Elio, follows a recently orphaned boy who is abducted by extraterrestrials. After pretending to be Earth's ambassador, he becomes entangled in an intergalactic crisis.

Box office analysts have forecast a weak opening weekend for Elio, predicting domestic earnings of under £22.2 million ($30 million).

In comparison, Disney's live-action reboot of How to Train Your Dragon is currently dominating cinemas, highlighting the ongoing challenge filmmakers face when producing original content outside of sequels, reboots, spin-offs and franchises.

Ticket Sales Don't Reflect Audiences' Calls for Original Content

While audiences frequently claim they want new stories from film studios, ticket sales suggest a strong preference for recycled content.

Consider the most recent films leading the box office.

How to Train Your Dragon earned £62.7 million ($84.6 million) domestically in its opening weekend and is expected to reach £74.1 million ($100 million) before this coming weekend, according to box office projections.

Box Office Pro stated this success is likely to encourage Disney to adapt more of its beloved originals into live-action remakes.

'This opens the door to Shrek, Trolls, Kung Fu Panda, and any other DreamWorks properties getting an IRL polish, as well as other non-Disney animated franchises, such as Hotel Transylvania, Ne Zha, etc.,' the outlet reported.

The live-action remake of Lilo and Stitch is quickly becoming one of the most profitable films of the year, earning £135.4 million ($183 million) domestically in its opening weekend over Memorial Day.

Pixar's most recent box office hit was Inside Out 2, which grossed nearly £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) worldwide last year.

The common denominator among these successful films is that they are all remakes or sequels—setting a less-than-encouraging stage for originals like Elio to debut.

Covid's Ongoing Effect on the Film Industry

Since Covid, production companies have struggled to achieve the same box office breakthroughs with original films as they did in previous years.

During the pandemic, Pixar releases such as Soul, Luca and Turning Red were sent straight to the Disney+ streaming platform.

However, when cinemas reopened, families were slow to return due to lingering health concerns and a growing preference for home viewing.

Today, family films dominate the box office—but the most successful titles are, unsurprisingly, remakes, sequels and franchises.

So far this year, Warner Bros.' Minecraft: The Movie has topped box offices alongside Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. While not a remake or sequel, Minecraft is still based on pre-existing intellectual property.

Last year, Universal and Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me 4 and Disney's Moana 2 joined Pixar's Inside Out 2 as some of the year's most successful releases.

Industry Insiders Emphasise the Need for Original Films

'You need to be launching new franchises to keep the pipeline fresh,' Doug Creutz, senior media and entertainment analyst at TD Cowen, told the Los Angeles Times.

'If you're trying to grow the business, you need new content, you need new franchises, you need new things for people to be excited about,' he added.

The animation industry risks creative stagnation if studios continue to focus solely on expanding existing stories.

In an email, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter told the Los Angeles Times: 'You wouldn't have Pixar without Toy Story, our first original film 30 years ago!'

'And while we also love digging into new layers of familiar worlds and characters through our sequels, I'd say there's a unique thrill in unearthing a new story.'