Pixar’s Elio Bombs at the Box Office after Identity-Focused Rewrites
Before its debut late last month, Disney boasted that its newest animated film, Elio, continues Pixar’s tradition of crafting films that resonate across generations.” But even after several iterations and attempts to hook test groups, Elio earned just $21 million during its domestic opening weekend, the worst debut in Pixar history and a huge disappointment after more than $200 million was spent to make the movie.
Elio, the title character, is a space fanatic with an active imagination. He finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form bonds with alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions, and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be. But that wasn’t the original storyline.
According to sources reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the movie was supposed to be centered on a queer-coded 11-year-old protagonist with subtle details that hinted at a same-sex crush. Later versions of the film softened Elio’s homosexual identity but continued making “personality” the primary driver of the storyline. For example, an early version reportedly shown to the production crew portrayed Elio collecting trash on the beach and turning it into homemade apparel. This included a pink tank top, which, according to multiple insiders, was to portray the character as queer-coded and reflect original director Adrian Molina’s identity as an openly gay filmmaker.
All of the changes failed to work. After a test screening held in Arizona in the summer of 2023, the audience was asked how many of them would watch it in theaters. According to reports, “Not a single hand was raised.”
A group of gay Pixar employees that go by the name “Pix Pride” are blaming the poor box office showing on the storyline changes that stripped the movie of its underlying gay themes. As one Pixar staffer put it, “You remove this big, key piece, which is all about identity, and Elio just becomes about totally nothing.”
That staffer is close to the truth. Pixar tried to rescue the movie from its focus on gay identity, but that was only one particularly annoying form of a larger problem. The perpetual insistence on postmodern notions of identity cannot replace good storytelling.
Of course, identity discovery and formation are essential aspects of the best stories. The redemptive narrative of Scripture, which culminates in the work of God to redeem the world He made, is built on the notion of identity that humans are made in the image of God. This explains both their significance in the created order and how serious are the consequences of the Fall. In the end, however, the story is compelling because it is one of redemption and renewal. How the sacrifice of God redeems and restores us to who we were always intended to be.
In a postmodern vision, identity is self-determined and constructed, and everything else about reality must conform to it. According to GLAAD’s Studio Responsibility Index, the portrayals of that vision of identity, especially in the form of the ever-growing list of identities in the acronym, have increased significantly since the early 2000s. In 2022, 100 major studio films included gay characters, more than 28% of all films made that year.
These films claim to portray an elevated view of identity, but only offer an impoverished view instead. In this view, sexuality is identity because autonomy is what gives us dignity. However, this is only plausible in certain times and cultures, like ours, which suffer from what sociologist Peter Berger called “the permanent identity crisis of modern man.”
The ideals of human equality and dignity are, as Friedrich Nietzsche noted, “another Christian concept” that “furnishes the prototype of all theories of equal rights.” As I pointed out in my book, A Practical Guide to Culture, which I coauthored with Brett Kunkle, “Today, many want the fruit of human dignity while soundly condemning its roots.”
The Bible is filled with captivating narratives, from the epic tales of the patriarchs to Jesus’ miraculous ministry. They not only reveal God’s character, but they also reveal what it truly means to be human, created and redeemed in His image. The best stories tell the truth about who we are. Until Hollywood figures out identity, Elio won’t be its last flop.
Photo Courtesy: ©Pixar
Published Date: July 15, 2025
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
Bob Ditmer is the product manager for BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
