Pixar's Elemental Overtakes Across The Spider-Verse At The International Box Office
This summer has had its fair share of bummer headlines in regard to the box office, save for the shocking success of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." This past weekend saw "Blue Beetle" become another disappointment for DC, while "Strays" got straight-up buried in no small part due to the ongoing strikes that are preventing casts from doing press for films. But amidst the doom and gloom is one of the feel-good stories of the year in Pixar's "Elemental." The film rebounded from absolute disaster to become a success. So much so that it has actually surpassed "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the international box office, amazingly enough.
Over the weekend, "Elemental" overtook Sony's animated "Spider-Man" flick overseas, with Pixar's latest now sitting at $307.1 million outside of North America, per The Numbers. Meanwhile, "Across the Spider-Verse" has earned $302.1 million internationally. Now, as far as the overall total goes, the edge still goes to Spidey. The "Spider-Verse" sequel has earned $380.9 million domestically, giving it a $683 million total, whereas "Elemental" has taken in just $151.1 million domestically for a $458.2 million running total.
That said, the fact that Pixar now has the biggest animated movie of the year outside of North America is nothing shy of amazing. An original film has outgrossed a "Spider-Man" movie throughout most of the world. It's a sign that Pixar's good name still has a lot of cache with audiences, even if Disney sent several of the studio's films straight to Disney+ during the early years of the pandemic (a decision that CEO Bob Iger has acknowledged did some damage, it should be noted). Yet, Pixar endures.
A victory lap for Disney and Pixar
The turnaround for director Peter Sohn's "Elemental" is nothing shy of astonishing. The film opened in mid-June to a seemingly disastrous $29.6 million domestically, a low for the storied animation studio. But then, something amazing happened. Good word of mouth spread naturally and, against wildly stiff summer competition, the movie kept performing strongly week after week in a way we hardly see anymore — so much so that it now ranks as the biggest original Hollywood movie released since the pandemic began.
Granted, its $200 million budget still looms a little large, but "Elemental" will end up being profitable for Disney in the long run. That actually comes straight from Pixar president Jim Morris. Speaking with Variety earlier this month, Morris had this to say:
"We have a lot of different revenue streams, but at the box office we're looking at now, it should do better than break even theatrically. And then we have revenue from streaming, theme parks and consumer products. This will certainly be a profitable film for the Disney company."
Granted, Morris isn't going to say anything denigrating about the film's performance, but it's easy enough to believe that after VOD, the value the movie brings to Disney+, merchandise, and Blu-ray sales, "Elemental" will be a worthwhile venture. More than that, it gives Disney a reason to continue to invest in original theatrical animation. That's the key, and it's a reminder that voting with your dollars is always important. Hollywood follows the money, and Pixar is clearly still capable of making money.