This Friday’s intergalactic animated adventure “Elio” marks a major test for Pixar. Despite the massive $1.7 billion global haul for last year’s “Inside Out 2,” the CG animating giant hasn’t been able to launch a successful new IP in quite a while.
The $150 million-budgeted film is reportedly projected for a third place domestic debut with a first weekend around the $25-30 million range, and a further $30-35 million being collected overseas. That debut isn’t the worst for a Pixar film, but is on the low end.
The film has screened for critics and with 62 reviews counted, it’s on 84% on Rotten Tomatoes while it’s on 66/100 on Metacritic – pretty good but nothing special scores. Here’s a sampling of quotes:
“A sweet, empathetic look at how to find connection in the unlikeliest of places. That idea isn’t exactly new to Pixar, but Elio’s inventive setting and lovable main character help cast these eternal themes in a weird and wonderful new light.” – Belen Edwards, Mashable
“Elio might have a few too many ideas in its head, but it ultimately delivers a thoughtful, lovely ode to the outsider in all of us. Intimate, sweet, and surprisingly moving, Elio is a cosmic visual feast that cannot be missed on the big screen.” – Hoai-Tran Bui, Inverse
“But while the adventure is suitably wild and the sidekicks are at least visually appealing, Elio never quite clicks in the way that viewers have come to expect.” – Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict
“Elio is a perfectly nice kiddie sci-fi adventure that does everything a movie with that description is supposed to do.” – Angie Han, THR
“There is a whiff of desperation chasing the Pixar emotional highs of the past, which is unsuccessful considering the story and characters here are too simplistic and half-baked to elicit that reaction when the time comes” – Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth
“For a movie about someone learning, in both literal and emotional ways, that he’s not alone in the universe, Elio has real trouble getting out of its own head.” – Alison Wilmore, Vulture
“Elio feels like a collection of disjointed narrative pieces struggling to form a coherent whole.” – Tim Grierson, Screen
“It’s all about radical acceptance but can only talk about the real-world application of its message in general metaphors, so people who don’t actually accept ‘weird,’ ‘different’ kids won’t have to think about how wrong they are.” – William Bibbiani, The Wrap
Disney will open “Elio in cinemas on Friday,
