After a disappointing $29 million opening weekend in North America, many box office pundits were ready to write off Elemental as a flop. Instead, Pixar's latest movie has shown serious legs in recent weeks, taking its current cume to more than $478 million worldwide.
Clearly happy with Elemental's success, Disney is now said to be moving forward with a sequel and spin-off series set in Element City.
Talking on The Town with Matthew Belloni, Exhibitors Relations' Jeff Bock (a leading box office expert) revealed, "Disney is also going to turn this into a [Disney+] series, I’ve already heard. And there might even be an 'Elemental' sequel."
Nothing is confirmed, though it's previously been revealed that Elemental once ended with the introduction of Wade and Ember's "steam baby," setting the stage for a follow-up revolving around the mismatched couple dealing with parenthood. Whether that idea will now be revisited remains to be seen.
Pixar President Jim Morris recently shared his thoughts on the movie's unexpected turnaround at the box office.
"We felt pretty good about the film," he said, addressing that underwhelming opening weekend. "We had a higher hope for its opening weekend, so we were a bit crestfallen."
"The numbers were falling off so little. In some markets, it would be a 12% drop from the week before and we had a handful of markets where [ticket sales] were rising. You just don’t see that in this day and age. You typically expect a 50% drop on an average basis. We thought, 'Well that’s cool.'"
"We have a lot of different revenue streams, but at the box office we’re looking at now, it should do better than break even theatrically," Morris added. "And then we have revenue from streaming, theme parks and consumer products. This will certainly be a profitable film for the Disney company."
Disney and Pixar's Elemental transports moviegoers to an extraordinary place called Element City, where a host of elements live and work. The story revolves around Ember, a quick-witted and fiery woman who's always stayed close to home in Firetown.
When she finally ventures out of her comfort zone to explore this spectacular world born from the imaginations of Pixar's filmmakers and specifically crafted for the big-screen experience, she meets Wade, her literal opposite. Element City is inspired by big cities around the globe and embraces theorized contributions from each elemental community - from giant pine-tree-like buildings and waterfall skyscrapers to a tornado-shaped arena called Cyclone Stadium.
Directed by Peter Sohn, and featuring the voices of Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie as Ember and Wade, respectively, Elemental is still playing in select theaters.