Elemental | Disney/Pixar | June 16, 2023 | What if elements have feelings?????? 😱😱😱😱 | Surprise sleeper hit with the biggest 2023 premiere on Disney+

[ThomasNicole]

@keysersoze123 i get what you said but Good Dinosaur have such a particular production history that idk if really matters for Elemental. 
 

Dinosaur was directed by Bob Peterson, with the help of Sohn of course which was credited as co-director, but it was Peterson project and story.
 

Peterson was fired from the project in 2013 because the story was a mess and he couldn’t solve it. 
 

The movie was delayed and Sohn ended up with a solo directing credit by the end of 2014, but the movie was dismantled and touched by pretty much everyone in the house including John Lasseter and Lee Unkrich. 
 

While Sohn surely have some guilt in it since he couldn’t help Peterson, it wasn’t really his movie since the beginning and what it ended up released was a Frankenstein made by a group.

 

I don’t know if it’s fair to judge Elemental because of the Dinosaur chaos, at least quality wise. There’s no guarantee Elemental is a great movie despite Pixar clearly having a lot of faith in it, it can be a mild one, but hardly because of what happened before.

[AniNate]

Even if Good Dinosaur was Sohn's thing all the way, I think the fact Pixar's screening this three weeks in advance at Cannes has to indicate some confidence that it's much better than that especially given the company it's in. Certainly it's not unusual for a director to make a great film after a mediocre one.

[keysersoze123]

6 minutes ago, ThomasNicole said:

@keysersoze123 i get what you said but Good Dinosaur have such a particular production history that idk if really matters for Elemental. 
 

Dinosaur was directed by Bob Peterson, with the help of Sohn of course which was credited as co-director, but it was Peterson project and story.
 

Peterson was fired from the project in 2013 because the story was a mess and he couldn’t solve it. 
 

The movie was delayed and Sohn ended up with a solo directing credit by the end of 2014, but the movie was dismantled and touched by pretty much everyone in the house including John Lasseter and Lee Unkrich. 
 

While Sohn surely have some guilt in it since he couldn’t help Peterson, it wasn’t really his movie since the beginning and what it ended up released was a Frankenstein made by a group.

 

I don’t know if it’s fair to judge Elemental because of the Dinosaur chaos, at least quality wise. There’s no guarantee Elemental is a great movie despite Pixar clearly having a lot of faith in it, it can be a mild one, but hardly because of what happened before.

I hope so. Let us see how things go at Cannes. I am not too excited seeing the trailers. Animation is gorgeous but voice acting has been super meh. Plus the theme has been played out in many movies. As many have pointed out it seems a combo of Inside Out and Zootopia themes. 

[JWR]

2 minutes ago, keysersoze123 said:

I hope so. Let us see how things go at Cannes. I am not too excited seeing the trailers. Animation is gorgeous but voice acting has been super meh. Plus the theme has been played out in many movies. As many have pointed out it seems a combo of Inside Out and Zootopia themes. 

 

Aren't all Pixar trailers like this? Basic premise, looks derivative or weird, then the movie usually takes people by surprise.

[AniNate]

The distinction this has (which admittedly isn't immediately apparent from the marketing) is the POC presence on and off the screen. This is obviously a deeply personal narrative from Sohn and I'm hoping all the bad faith "rip-off" accusations will be silenced once the product is exhibited in full the way they were with Coco.

[ThomasNicole]

6 minutes ago, keysersoze123 said:

I hope so. Let us see how things go at Cannes. I am not too excited seeing the trailers. Animation is gorgeous but voice acting has been super meh. Plus the theme has been played out in many movies. As many have pointed out it seems a combo of Inside Out and Zootopia themes. 

Definitely, the trailers are selling a generic movie. 
 

I don’t like the approach but maybe it’s for the best, if they make it clear the movie is about immigrants and inter-racial relationships maybe it would be under the radar of the alt-right crowd which would make even harder for it financially.

[JWR]

Just now, ThomasNicole said:

Definitely, the trailers are selling a generic movie. 
 

I don’t like the approach but maybe it’s for the best, if they make it clear the movie is about immigrants and inter-racial relationships maybe it would be under the radar of the alt-right crowd which would make even harder for it financially.

 

Looks generic but has a straightforward premise. It seems like back-to-basics Pixar and doesn't seem to be confusing people like Lightyear was.

[AniNate]

It would've helped vibes be a little less cynical I think if they showed off more of the Firetown dynamics and gave some of the Wade/Ember interactions more room to breathe. You barely have an idea they're supposed to be an item from the most recent advertising. 

Edited May 18, 2023 by AniNate

[keysersoze123]

On directors getting replaced I remember Bird taking over Ratatouille from Jan Pinkava. That is still my all time fav Pixar flick.  

[cannastop]

I anticipate Luca/Onward level reviews for Elemental.

[PNF2187]

4 hours ago, cannastop said:

I anticipate Luca/Onward level reviews for Elemental.

Honestly if this ends up being the case for Elemental then I'm fully anticipating a bomb unless word of mouth is on same level as Inside Out or Coco. Luca was at least a crowdpleaser on Disney+ and had a pretty late embargo. Onward had a festival premiere two weeks prior to opening and the initial reviews out of the gate weren't great. They improved a lot leading up to release, but the general pre-release sentiment was still lukewarm and kind of screwed its opening. In a non-pandemic world, it probably could have legged out well even with word of mouth lagging a bit since there wouldn't have been much direct competition until Trolls 2, and Sonic 1 was 3 weeks old at that point and was a good but not overwhelmingly huge success.

 

Elemental has The Little Mermaid and Spider-Verse opening in the three weeks leading up to its release and both of those on their own is going to be bigger than Sonic was. It also has Ruby Gillman two weeks after (which is probably screwed either way, but two weeks is less than five weeks) on top of all the July and other June releases which it's going to compete for screen space. This needs to be really good...

 

... which will hopefully be the case given the CinemaCon presentation and the Cannes premiere, but Lightyear's CinemaCon presentation also went great last year, and Dial of Destiny's reviews from its Cannes premiere are not great at the moment.

 

Elemental is independent from those films of course, but we don't have the most encouraging signs at the moment.

[ThomasNicole]

2 minutes ago, PNF2187 said:

Honestly if this ends up being the case for Elemental then I'm fully anticipating a bomb unless word of mouth is on same level as Inside Out or Coco. Luca was at least a crowdpleaser on Disney+ and had a pretty late embargo. Onward had a festival premiere two weeks prior to opening and the initial reviews out of the gate weren't great. They improved a lot leading up to release, but the general pre-release sentiment was still lukewarm and kind of screwed its opening. In a non-pandemic world, it probably could have legged out well even with word of mouth lagging a bit since there wouldn't have been much direct competition until Trolls 2, and Sonic 1 was 3 weeks old at that point and was a good but not overwhelmingly huge success.

 

Elemental has The Little Mermaid and Spider-Verse opening in the three weeks leading up to its release and both of those on their own is going to be bigger than Sonic was. It also has Ruby Gillman two weeks after (which is probably screwed either way, but two weeks is less than five weeks) on top of all the July and other June releases which it's going to compete for screen space. This needs to be really good...

 

... which will hopefully be the case given the CinemaCon presentation and the Cannes premiere, but Lightyear's CinemaCon presentation also went great last year, and Dial of Destiny's reviews from its Cannes premiere are not great at the moment.

 

Elemental is independent from those films of course, but we don't have the most encouraging signs at the moment.

Beyond Cinemacon and Cannes, They showed 1/3 of Elemental already for press few weeks ago, very good reactions from it

[JustLurking]

Luca and turning red didn't really have the same level of reviews,  turning red was more in the middle between Luca and Inside out.

[AniNate]

I do think it's 90s or bust for Elemental. It's already handicapped by the crowded June and diminished enthusiasm for Pixar post Lightyear and people will only show up if it's top tier.

 

Indy 5 getting mediocre reviews though is good news for the movie's legs (even if a wash for Disney overall). If it is in fact high quality it will still look like the far preferable choice when that comes out. Hopefully that was the only gross miscalculation Disney made this year deciding what to send to Cannes.

 

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by AniNate

[JWR]

4 minutes ago, AniNate said:

I do think it's 90s or bust for Elemental. It's already handicapped by the crowded June and diminished enthusiasm for Pixar post Lightyear and people will only show up if it's top tier.

 

Indy 5 getting mediocre reviews though is good news for the movie's legs (even if a wash for Disney overall). If it is in fact high quality it will still look like the far preferable choice when that comes out. Hopefully that was the only gross miscalculation Disney made this year deciding what to send to Cannes.

 

 

 

The folks at Pixar can only hope.

[Jonwo]

We need to get out of this mindset that Elemental will be a bomb if it doesn't get glowing reviews. The hot take that Ruby Gillman would beat it was nothing short of hyperbole.

[AniNate]

19 minutes ago, Jonwo said:

We need to get out of this mindset that Elemental will be a bomb if it doesn't get glowing reviews. The hot take that Ruby Gillman would beat it was nothing short of hyperbole.

 

No, I'm pretty confident the first part is a fact, especially with the current 28-38m tracking.

 

Long Range Box Office Forecast: THE FLASH, ELEMENTAL, and THE BLACKENING Hope to Combine for a Strong Father’s Day/Juneteenth Frame - Boxoffice (boxofficepro.com)

[Jonwo]

46 minutes ago, AniNate said:

 

No, I'm pretty confident the first part is a fact, especially with the current 28-38m tracking.

 

Long Range Box Office Forecast: THE FLASH, ELEMENTAL, and THE BLACKENING Hope to Combine for a Strong Father’s Day/Juneteenth Frame - Boxoffice (boxofficepro.com)

Cue the various Pixar is doomed posts 🙄

[AniNate]

I mean you can't deny that buzz for this has been lacking for awhile. The bottom line is it needs the kind of reviews that Pixar has gained a rep for to be anywhere close to a financial success, clearly the brand name by itself isn't much of a selling point now, nor is their intentionally story-concealing marketing campaign. Hopefully this'll motivate them to finally show some of its details.

[YM!]

2 hours ago, Jonwo said:

We need to get out of this mindset that Elemental will be a bomb if it doesn't get glowing reviews. The hot take that Ruby Gillman would beat it was nothing short of hyperbole.

It's tracking at 28-38m OW. I agree the latter part is hyperbole but it's opening two weeks after 2 100m+ OW family films as well as opening against another 100m opener with family appeal, and facing the diminished enthusiasm theatrical Disney animation has been facing. You're not bouncing back without stellar reviews. To not see the warning signs at this point, is blind fanboyism.

Edited May 19, 2023 by YM!