by Madeleine Hubbard
Disney’s film “Elemental,” which features Pixar’s first “non-binary character,” had the worst box office opening weekend in the studio’s history, bringing in just $29.5 million in domestic ticket sales over the three-day Juneteenth weekend.
With a $200 million budget, “Elemental” is set in a fictional town known as Element City, where fire, water, land and air live and work together. The younger sibling of the water element is known as Lake, who is non-binary and voiced by Kai Ava Hauser, who is also non-binary.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT I got to play Pixar's first nonbinary character! Meet Lake!
I voice Lake in the new movie #Elemental! I'm seeing it in theaters tonight with my friends, so you can catch it in theaters too if you wanna see them. 💙 pic.twitter.com/6kBPGvCATE— 🛸 Kai Ava Hauser 🛸 (@JustAVoiceActor) June 16, 2023
The new film grossed slightly more than Pixar’s first movie, “Toy Story,” which brought in $29.1 million during its opening weekend in 1995. When adjusted for inflation, “Toy Story” would have brought in over $58 million in 2023.
The previous record-holder for worst Pixar movie was “Onward,” which took in $39 million during its opening weekend, or $46 million when adjusted for inflation, after the film opened in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, per The New York Times.
Last year, Disney produced two box office bombs: “Strange World,” which featured Disney’s first openly gay main character, and “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear,” which featured a same-sex kiss.
“Elemental” grossed far less during its opening weekend than both “Lightyear,” which brought in $51 million, and “Strange World,” which was not a Pixar movie and brought in only $18.6 million over a five-day holiday weekend.
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Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.
