The past week brought gloomy figures for major film companies overall as two commercial blockbusters underperformed at the box office. In addition to the disappointing numbers from “The Flash,” which earned just under $140 million globally, with only $55 million from the domestic market in the USA, Pixar also has a reason to be down.
The new figures for Pixar’s “Elemental” are nothing to laugh about. While $140 million may be seen as a good result, it is pocket change for a release that premiered in 78 countries.
The numerous controversies surrounding “The Flash” star Ezra Miller have likely had minimal impact on theater attendance. Instead, a trend is emerging where film studios with superhero movies are underperforming in sales figures.
Even animation companies have cause for concern. The new Pixar film, “Elemental,” also had a production cost of $200 million and has shown weaker results than “The Flash” over the weekend. In the USA, the film has earned a modest $26 million during its opening weekend, which is the weakest performance in Pixar’s history according to Variety.
Pixar’s parent company, Disney, has been accused in recent years of being too “woke” in its new films (including Star Wars) and has engaged in a somewhat public battle with conservative forces in the USA. The question is whether conservative forces truly have a negative impact on sales figures or if the decline is just a temporary trend.
