Pixar’s “Elio” is almost – finally – here.
The original animated feature, developed initially by “Coco” co-writer/co-director Adrian Molina (who still retains a credit on the final film), was slated to hit theaters on March 1, 2024. But after a change in leadership on the project, compounded by the twin SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes of 2023, the sci-fi adventure is now headed to theaters this summer. And we’ve got the brand-new trailer, our best look yet at the beloved animation studio’s latest. Watch it below.
In “Elio,” the title character is a young boy who dreams of being among the stars (Yonas Kibreab). He is misidentified by a band of helpful aliens as Earth’s ambassador and they beam him up. That’s where he meets a whole host of colorful alien creatures, including Glordon (Remy Edgerly), Questa (Jameela Jamil), Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett) and OOOOO (Shirley Henderson). Recent Oscar winner Zoe Saldaña also plays Olga, Elio’s beleaguered aunt.
With Molina no longer actively working on the project, Pixar brought in Madeline Sharafian (whose short film “Burrow” is really stunning) and Domee Shi, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind “Turning Red.” (This is the first Pixar feature led by two female directors.)
Pixar is, of course, following the emotional response to last year’s “Inside Out 2,” which was, for a time, the highest-grossing animated feature of all time. However, it was recently bested by Chinese juggernaut “Ne Zha 2.” “Inside Out 2” was also nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, losing to sleeper hit “Flow.” Since then, Pixar has released two long-form streaming series for Disney+ — “Dream Productions,” a wonderful companion to “Inside Out 2;” and “Win or Lose,” which just wrapped up and is one of the best things Pixar has ever done.
“Elio” opens on June 20.
