Elio Opens to Pixar-Worst $21M, 28 Years Later Hits $30M

Ouch.

Universal’s How to Train Your Dragon had no trouble staying No. 1 in its second weekend with an estimated $37 million domestic haul despite the entry of the highly anticipated sequel 28 Years Later and Elio — which limped to $21 million from what marks the lowest opening ever for Pixar amid a glut of family box office hits and a troubled marketplace for original animated fare.

How to Train Your Dragon, a live adaptation of DreamWorks Animation’s beloved 2010 animated film, zoomed past $350 million globally after finishing Sunday with a domestic tally of $160.5 million and $197.7 million overseas for a worldwide cume of $358.2 million. It’s currently playing in 4,373 theaters in North America, as well as in more than 80 markets overseas, and has the advantage of having a lock on Imax screens (that ends next weekend).

Like Elio, albeit to a lesser extent, Danny Boyle’s zombie sequel, also opened behind expectations domestically with an estimated $30 million from 3,444 locations. While a solid start, it will need strong legs to justify a planned trilogy for Boyle and Sony. Overseas, it also took in $30 million for a global bow of $60 million.

A few weeks ago, 28 Years Later was tracking to open to $35 million, with more bullish pundits thinking it could come between $40 million and $45 million. Similar to the family space, some are speculating that the horror marketplace may be oversaturated, led by box office hit Final Destination: Bloodlines.

28 Years Later still marks the biggest opening of Boyle’s career and reunites the filmmaker with writer Alex Garland nearly a quarter of a century after 28 Days hit the big screen and became a cult classic. Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes star in what’s the first installment in a planned trilogy.

Reviewers have widely embraced the R-rated title, but actual moviegoers are somewhat less enthusiastic; its current audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is 67 percent, compared to a 90 percent critics’ score. At the same time, it’s garnering decent exit scores from leading exit-polling service PostTrak. And it earned a B CinemaScore, which is like an A grade when it comes to horror fare.

Facing fierce competition from How to Train Your Dragon and fellow Disney release Lilo & Stitch, Elio opened in third place. The pic is playing in 3,750 theaters domestically. The returns were just as bad overseas, where it opened to a paltry $14 million.

Elio — an original film about a young boy whose wish to travel to outer space and interact with aliens comes true — was expected to open to at least $30 million domestically. But with interest stalling in recent days, Disney insiders lowered their projections to $20 million to $25 million late last week as Pixar braced for the worst 3-day opening in its history behind Elemental ($29.6 million) in June 2023 and its very first film, 1995’s Toy Story ($29.1 million), not adjusted for inflation. Toy Story opened over Thanksgiving and amassed $39 million over the long five-day holiday weekend.

In 2023, Elemental‘s opening was called nothing short of a debacle, yet it turned into a sleeper hit on its way to earning nearly $500 million globally. Pixar and parent company, Disney, are confident that Elio will have the same sort of staying power throughout the summer when kids are sprung from school. So far, Elio is graced with a better critics score on Rotten Tomatoes than Elemental, as well as a 90 percent audience score on RT, glowing PostTrak exit results and an A CinemaScore, including an A+ from kids.

Pixar has been struggling to find its footing in a world where original animated stories don’t open to the heights they once did (think north of $70 million). The slowdown began several years before COVID; since Pixar’s Coco in 2017, no original animated title from any Hollywood studio has launched north of $40 million domestically.

During the pandemic years — even when cinemas were back up and running — the regime led by then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek decided to send three Pixar titles straight to Disney+ domestically, including Turning Red, Luca and the Oscar-winning Soul, a decision rivals said taught families to wait to watch a film at home. (All three were considered streaming hits.) They might have been right. Among all animated original films from any Hollywood studio, only two have opened north of $20 million since the pandemic, Encanto and Elemental.

But Pixar and Disney have since reversed course and are once again committed to telling original theatrical stories, mixed in with known IP, such as last year’s blockbuster and record-shattering Inside Out 2, the top-grossing pic of 2024, the top ever title for Pixar and the top animated movie of all time with more than $1.69 billion in worldwide ticket sales, not adjusted for inflation. (As fate would have it, Inside Out 2 opened on the same June weekend a year ago.)

The live-action Lilo & Stitch remained a force to be reckoned with in its fifth weekend as it flew past the $900 million mark globally. The blockbuster fell a scant 38 percent in North America to place fourth with $9.7 million. The record-shattering film boasts a domestic tally of $386.7 million and $523.6 million overseas for a global treasure chest of $901.3 million (overseas, it even topped Elio for the weekend with $19.7 million).

Paramount’s Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, opening opposite Lilo over Memorial Day, also continued to show staying power and rounded out the top five with an estimated $6.6 million from 2,603 cinemas for a domestic total of $179.4 million and $540.9 million globally when factoring in an international total of $362.5 million.

A24’s specialty romantic drama Materialists continued to do well in its sophomore outing, and came in sixth place with $5.8 million from 2,844 locations for a domestic cume of $23.9 million. The Celine Song-directed film, starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chis Evans, has earned $7.5 million overseas to date for an early global total of $31.4 million. Sony is handling the pic internationally.

June 22, 7:30: Updated with revised numbers.

This story was originally published June 21 at 9:17 a.m.