Walt Disney released its newest Pixar animated film last week, but the heartwarming tale of fire and water falling in love is expected to deliver disappointing returns for the company that produced megahits like Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.
Despite a strong critics' score of 79% on RottenTomatoes, Elemental was projected to take in just US$31 million (1.1 billion baht) to $41 million in US theatres this weekend, according to researcher Boxoffice Pro. That would be among the lowest debuts ever for the animation studio. By comparison, 2015's Inside Out, another original Pixar film, opened at $90.4 million. Elemental cost a reported $200 million to make and tens of millions more to market.
The performance of Elemental isn't the only concern for investors. Disney recently announced it's delaying several major live-action movies, pointing to problems for some of the Burbank, California-based company's most-valued franchises.
