Elemental has experienced a remarkable box office rebound following its underwhelming $29 million opening weekend, propelling it to achieve a new milestone as it surpasses a modern Disney record. The film has dipped just 13% in its fifth weekend and has now crossed the $300 million mark worldwide as it continues to show signs of recovery.
The Pixar film, released in cinemas on June 16, is a modern love story set in a city where the characters represent the elements fire, water, earth, and air. Unfortunately, the movie had a highly disappointing opening weekend, earning only $29.6 million. However, despite initial bleak predictions, it has managed to sustain its presence in the box office charts and gradually improve its overall earnings without attracting much attention.
The film made a spectacular $28.2 million on its 5th weekend, almost matching that opening weekend haul, and has hit a total of $311.7 million at time of writing. Currently, the film is now looking at a final box office total of between $420 million to $500 million. As a result, it has surpassed the underperforming Pixar film Lightyear from last year, which earned $226.4 million worldwide, in addition to Disney's Encanto, which made $256.8 million worldwide. If this trend continues, it will become Disney's most successful animated film since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Work to Do for Elemental
The film is still in some financial trouble. The production budget for Elemental was approximately $200 million, not including promotional expenses. Industry estimates suggest that the film must generate around $400 million in box office revenue to become profitable. The shoots of recovery being shown by the film in theaters is encouraging, and it should hang around as counter-programming - while Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Barbie and Oppenheimer are expected to eat up the majority of the box office money, there is not much in the way of PG-rated fare for families in comparison.
Elemental still has work to do in order to get Pixar back to pre-pandemic levels in the box office playing field. Currently, the only pre-pandemic film that Elemental would outgross at current pace is the 2015 flop The Good Dinosaur ($333.7 million worldwide). Every other Pixar title ranges from the very early days of $363 million (A Bug's Life - Pixar's second ever film) to a staggering $1.24 billion (the juggernaut that was Incredibles 2).
Elemental is still playing in theaters. You can catch the trailer down below.
