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Box Office: ‘28 Years Later’ Scares Up $30 Million Start, ‘Elio’ Lands Worst Debut in Pixar History With $21 Million
Universal's "How to Train Your Dragon" remake remained No. 1 in North America despite two newcomers, Pixar's "Elio" and Sony's "28 Years Later."
It was a respectable tally given the terrible opening weekend result, but nowhere near the prior heights of Pixar, the empire behind “Toy Story,” “The Incredibles” and “Finding Nemo.” The studio is hoping that “Elio” follows a similar trajectory since the animated tale was awarded an “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls and 85% Rotten Tomatoes average. But the bleak start for “Elio” underscores the challenges that face Pixar, which fielded last year’s record-breaking smash “Inside Out 2” ($1.69 billion) but hasn’t successfully launched a new theatrical property in ages. Original animation has struggled at the box office in post-pandemic times, and Pixar in particular has failed to live up to its own stratospheric heights — especially after several of its titles (like “Turning Red” and “Luca”) were sent directly to Disney+ while cinemas were recovering from COVID, which inadvertently trained family audiences to expect those movies at home.
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