Disney's 'Elemental' featuring non-binary character crashes and burns at box office

Disney’s latest release, Elemental, brought in meager numbers for its opening weekend, placing it on track to be one of the lowest premiers since the late 1990s.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Elemental, which was released on June 16, earned an estimated $29.6 million over the three-day weekend, which marks the lowest weekend premiere for a Pixar title since Toy Story’s release in 1995.

Toy Story earned just $29.1 million across the weekend, not adjusted for inflation. The Hollywood Reporter noted that "Toy Story, of course, went on to make cinematic and box office history. Elemental isn’t expected to do the same."

The outlet called Pixar’s 27th film "one giant, very expensive ($200 million to be exact) metaphor or immigration and exclusion."

The movie features Disney’s first-ever non-binary character Lake Ripple, voiced by non-binary person Ava Hauser.

The latest film follows Lightyear, which was released in June of 2022, which grossed $118,307,118 during it’s box office release, according to Box Office Mojo. The movie had a budget of $200 million. Despite the low theater release numbers, the movie brought in over $50 million during its opening weekend.

A controversial lesbian kiss between two side characters was cut and then reinserted in the film after Disney employees said the company was not doing enough to combat Ron DeSantis' Parental Rights in Education bill in Florida by activists who called it anti-LGBTQ.