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Elio: Inside Pixar's Box Office Flop, America Ferrara, Director Change

Creatives at Pixar who saw the original director's previous cut of 'Elio' tell THR about the movie's challenging production process: "'Elio' just [became] about totally nothing."

According to multiple insiders who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, Elio was initially portrayed as a queer-coded character, reflecting original director Adrian Molina’s identity as an openly gay filmmaker. “I was deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made,” says former Pixar assistant editor Sarah Ligatich, who provided feedback during Elio production as a member of the company’s internal LGBTQ group PixPRIDE. Sources tell THR that Ferrara had already recorded dialogue for the film but that her decision to exit was attributed to Molina’s departure, not to mention that frequently being called back to rerecord lines due to script changes likely took its toll.

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