The budget ofEliowill ultimately determine if the new animated movie is a hit. The Pixar project was originally set to be helmed byCoco’s Adrian Molina, thoughTurning Red’s Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian took the helm during a major creative restructuring that saw Molina depart in favor ofCoco 2. The movie follows Elio (Yonas Kibreab), a young man whose wish to be abducted by aliens comes true, only for him to be mistaken as Earth’s ambassador at the same time that Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett) threatens the peace of the interplanetary organization known as the Communiverse.
Although Pixar has consistently produced both original movies and franchise outings throughout their history, their original titles of the 2020s have largely become streaming releases on Disney+ due to the global theatrical shutdowns that took place during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus,Pixar’sEliois onlythe company’s third original movie of the 2020s to debut as a major wide release in both domestic and international theaters, after 2020’sOnwardand 2023’sElemental. Before 2020, their most recent original theatrical release was 2017’sCoco, which Molina co-directed with Lee Unkrich.
Elio’s Budget Is Reportedly $150 Million
This Isn’t Uncommon For A Modern Pixar Movie
According to a recentDeadlinereport, the production budget ofEliois roughly $150 million. Although this means that it cost more than the reported budgets of multiple recent blockbusters such as 2025’sLilo & Stitch($100 million) and 2023’sBarbie(~$145 million), this is not an uncommon price tag for a modern Pixar movie. In fact, it ties with 2020’sSouland 2007’sRatatouilleastheir least expensive original movie since 2006’sCars. Below, see a breakdown of the reported budget ofevery Pixar moviethat isn’t a sequel, prequel, or spinoff, not adjusted for inflation:
$30 million
~$120 million
$115 million
$94 million
~$145 million
$120 million
$150 million
$180 million
$175 million
$185 million
~$200 million
~$225 million
not reported
Elemental(2023)
$200 million
There are multiple reasons why Pixar movies are so expensive. This mostly comes from the fact that they require a great amount of computing power and a significant number of animators for the stories to be brought to life properly. However,Pixar movies also tend to boast star-studded caststhat inflate their budgets. WhileElioboasts fewer A-list stars than other recent outings, which may be one reason its budget is lower, it does feature the vocal talents of a number of notable actors, includingAvatar’s Zoe Saldaña,The Good Place’s Jameela Jamil, andHarry Potter’s Shirley Henderson.
It Is On Track To Beat Several Recent Pixar Originals
Image via Disney+
As revealed in the sameDeadlinereport,Eliois currently projected to earn a 3-day opening weekend of more than $20 millionat the domestic box office after it debuts on June 20, with a global start of $50 million. This will likely not be enough for it to take No. 1 over the anticipated horror sequel28 Years Later, which is projected to earn $28-30 million domestic and $56 million worldwide. It also sees the movie falling behind the domestic debuts of bothOnward($39.1 million) andElemental($29.6 million)for Pixar’s lowest original debut of the 2020s.
Elio Likely Needs To Make $375 Million To Be A Box Office Success
Its Break-Even Point Might Pose A Challenge
While there are many factors that go into a movie’s break-even point, two of the most important are the fact that theaters keep half of ticket sales and publicity costs are not factored into production budgets. This makes for a general rule of thumb thatmovies usually need to earn back two and a half times their budgetsin order to break even in theaters. This means that the estimated break-even point for theElioreleaseis most likely somewhere around $375 million.
Hitting this total may present something of a challenge, if the movie’s opening weekend performs as projected. If it continues on its current trajectory compared toElemental, which grossed $484.8 million worldwide,it may not reach more than $345 million by the end of its run.Elementalalso had a leg-up overEliobecause it was a holiday release, and those titles tend to have longer legs. Additionally, the new Pixar movie will be facing major upcoming competition from July blockbusters includingJurassic World RebirthandSuperman.
