Everyone’s heard about how terrible 2023 was for Disney at the box office — from Indiana Jones to The Marvels, many of the Mouse House’s seemingly surefire blockbusters failed to, well, bust blocks. That said, it wasn’t always as bad as the negative noise would have you believe. When Elemental opened to less than $30 million last June, much was made about how far Pixar had come since its glory days yada yada… But as it turned out this, the film had enough fire to weather the elements.
All in all, Elemental went on to earn around $527 million worldwide, becoming the very definition of a sleeper hit. What’s more, it’s been awarded a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Unfortunately, it’s probably not going to join its many Pixar brothers and sisters that have taken home the gong, seeing as Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron is the favorite to win, after the final Hayao Miyazaki film landed the Golden Globe. Nevertheless, Elemental is coming out tops on streaming, beating into second place another Disney 2023 release which actually was the bomb that everyone thinks it is.
Releasing in September, The Creator promised to be the next epic sci-fi actioner from Godzilla and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, which combined an A-list cast, great visuals, and topical themes about AI. Unfortunately the John David Washington and Gemma Chan vehicle went down with humanity about as well as a real robot uprising and only brought home $104 million on the back of an $80 million budget. At least, now that it’s available on Disney Plus in many territories, The Creator is finally finding an audience. Even so, as per Flix Patrol, it’s still Elemental that is currently claiming the #1 slot on the platform.
Elemental is Disney’s biggest streaming success of 2023
Elemental‘s current Disney Plus domination is only cementing the success it’s found on streaming. Following its slow-burn theatrical earnings, the adorable animated romcom is officially Disney’s biggest streaming hit of 2023. Nielsen has compiled the top 10 biggest movies across all of streaming from last year, and Elemental came in at fourth place — having amassed a mouth-watering 8.6 billion minutes of viewing time since it hit the platform. Considering that 2016’s Moana was actually the single most-watched film of the year, there’s every chance that Elemental will continue to draw in eyes and remain on the board for 2024’s ranking too. How’s that for a sleeper hit?
