Wow! A Bug's Life is not getting much love here. I suggest some rewatching. It is getting ranked below some trash. Hopper is underrated as a Disney villian. His finale is classic!
I don't think Pixar has made a flat-out bad movie, but they have made some mediocre ones. Brave was disappointing as the trailers promised a dark epic mystical journey and what we instead got was a mashup of Freaky Friday and Brother Bear set in Scotland.I think Brave also gets better on re-watch. I absolutely love that movie now.
Yeah it's bad. However, WOM from audiences seems to be positive and it has an A cinemascore. While unlikely, I'm still rooting for it to have a good second-week hold.Deadline Saturday am update:
“Disney/Pixar’s Elemental was neither fire nor glamorous ice with an estimated $30M 3-day after a Friday around $11.6M. 4-day could be $33M. We always knew after the sour reviews out of Cannes this Pixar movie about denizens in a fire and ice world wasn’t going to wow. The entire concept has been hard to win kids and families over with, but even more so, the film feels like a diluted version of the spirited existential stuff we’ve seen from the Emeryville, CA studio with Inside Out and Soul. Very same old, same old. You knew this was going to be bad when we heard about all those layoffs. Who knew we would be living in an era where Illumination would trump Pixar in grosses? Pixar and Disney Animation are indeed still looking to fill the creative hole left behind after John Lasseter’s exit.”
That sounds about right. Just kind of middle of the road stuff.I have Elemental ahead of the following Pixar Films:
A Bug's Life
Monsters Inc.
Cars 2
Brave
Monsters University
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
Finding Dory
Cars 3
Luca
Turning Red
Lightyear
Soul
More or less on the same level of the following films:
The Incredibles 2
Onward
Keep in mind some of these I’ve only seen once or twice and it may have been a long time ago so I could be off on some of these. For those I’m only going off the feeling that those films left me with. I realized I’m more of a Lasseter, Brad Bird, Unkrich guy. The Docter films don’t seem to work for me as much for whatever reason. I wouldn’t be surprised if I rewatched some of the above that 2-3 (probably Monsters Inc. and maybe Bugs Life) of them would surpass Elemental. Stand by what I said on Inside Out though. I think that one was overrated and a little boring.
I’d probably have it ahead of Wall E and Up too if the first half of those films weren’t so strong. Didn’t really like the second half of either film. Especially Up.
I don't know if I'd trust cinemascore rating on any Pixar movie. Lightyear they gave an A- and Good Dinosaur an A.Yeah it's bad. However, WOM from audiences seems to be positive and it has an A cinemascore. While unlikely, I'm still rooting for it to have a good second-week hold.
“At least we’re not WBD” has been a common refrain for Disney defenders over the last year but that’s not exactly the own you think it is.Meh, Disney can absorb a big loss like that, like they always have. The same cannot be said for WB with The Flash crashing and burning.
The thing is the industry is completely flying blind and nobody seems to have an idea on how to deal with the incoming demise of linear TV and theatrical. Sure Paramount is likely to score big with M:I and Transformers but that means little when Paramount's core business, cable networks, is bleeding rapidly and management is pouring billions into Paramount+ when there's no sign to profitability. Just recently their stock fell ~30% in one day when they announced they were cutting the dividend to fund the service (oh, and they've been stripping the company down for parts so CBS can pay for their new NFL contract)?“At least we’re not WBD” has been a common refrain for Disney defenders over the last year but that’s not exactly the own you think it is.
Pixar's weakest box office opening ever. The Disney+ curse they created for themselves is real, it would seem.
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Elemental's Box Office Is One Of Pixar's Lowest Debut In 3 Decades Since Toy Story
Pixar's Elemental isn't doing so hot.screenrant.com
But this is not supposed to be a film made for a niche audience, it just takes its inspiration from the personal experiences of the director. Whether it appeals to a wider audience or not and why is another issue, but it's not made as a film for children of Korean immigrants who grew up in New York even if that experience was the source of inspiration for the director.
Luca was brought up earlier as being meaningful for Italian Americans. Well, I am Anglo-Irish Australian and it's one of my favourite films from Disney or Pixar in a very long time and it was also the most-streamed movie in the United States the year it was released. That's not a niche movie, even if it was inspired by the filmmaker's lived experience.
Wait until you can see this one for "free".
Why spend $55 (not including snack bar) to take the family of four to see a $200 Million Pixar movie in theaters when you can see it for $8 in front of your own 65 inch 4K screen that every middle class home now has?
What a horrible mess they've created for themselves. It will be fun to watch them try and get themselves out of it. Slashing campus payrolls and production budgets would seem to be a good place to start.
This is sad! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I blame the pandemic and Bob Chapek for this!Pixar's weakest box office opening ever. The Disney+ curse they created for themselves is real, it would seem.
![]()
Elemental's Box Office Is One Of Pixar's Lowest Debut In 3 Decades Since Toy Story
Pixar's Elemental isn't doing so hot.screenrant.com
Because the movie looks awesome and you want the event experience?Why spend $55 (not including snack bar) to take the family of four to see a $200 Million Pixar movie in theaters when you can see it for $8 in front of your own 65 inch 4K screen that every middle class home now has?
What a horrible mess they've created for themselves. It will be fun to watch them try and get themselves out of it. Slashing campus payrolls and production budgets would seem to be a good place to start.
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