ELEMENTAL (2023): Disney/Pixar Movie Picks Up Steam at the Box-Office After Opening with Low Numbers

Elemental Bounces Back at the Box-Office

The Disney/Pixar film, Elemental, has broken even at the box-office despite early naysayers’ suggestions that the opening weekend of the film would seal the movie’s fate as a flop.

Don’t judge a movie by its first weekend box-office grosses. Unfortunately for movies like Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken, if the opening weekend is in the single-digits then there’s not a lot of time for it to save face. However, Disney/Pixar has managed to save face on their great new movie, Elemental, and because the movie opened with $29 million domestically, enough people saw it to help word of mouth spread like wildfire. This film received a perfect “10” from its FilmBook movie review suggesting we had faith the movie would become a hit.

Last year, Lightyear from Disney/Pixar opened much stronger than Elemental but eventually fizzed at the box-office when its final tally was revealed. Elemental is no Lightyear. While Lightyear finished with less than $120 million domestically, Elemental is already at $145 million and could do about another $30 million in business in August to make it end up with $175 million. Not the best showing for a Disney/Pixar movie, but it has also grossed a quarter of a billion dollars internationally.

Why did Elemental avoid the fate of Lightyear and The Flash (which opened and bombed the same exact weekend Elemental opened)? The answer is simple: heart and kid-friendliness. The Disney/Pixar movie is more kid-friendly than most of what’s out there right now and has a gentle nature about it which makes it extraordinarily entertaining to watch. It also doesn’t hurt that the new film has one of the best musical scores of the year (by Thomas Newman) which could make an Oscar nod happen for the Elemental team in that category and perhaps even in Best Animated Feature Film.

“Steal the Show” by Lauv has also become a hit song and since it is showcased in the movie and at the start of the end credits of Elemental, the song has helped secure repeat viewings of the movie by young people who love the song and the two central characters which the movie prominently features: Wade and Ember.

There were those who said the terrific 2012 Disney/Pixar movie, Brave, was disappointing after it only mustered up $237 million at the domestic box-office. That was an unfair analysis because the movie went on to win the Academy Award that year for Best Animated Feature. Although Elemental won’t win for this year (there’s some stiff competition), it should definitely get nominated if the momentum of the film holds up throughout the next several months. Sometimes the quality of a movie can sustain a tough market and make money for its studio. While it may not make a huge fortune, Elemental is a quality product that should definitely be seen on the big screen.

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