‘Elemental’ continues to flip the flop narrative with record-breaking Disney Plus debut

Even as Disney has been recovering from what can only be described as a rough year at the box office, Pixar can hold its head high since the underrated Elemental can finally quench the flames of the film’s naysayers. That is because the animated film now boasts the incredible record of being the most-watched movie premiere on Disney Plus of 2023, beating out the previous champion, The Little Mermaid, by a country mile.

In its first five days since it debuted on Disney Plus, Elemental has generated 26.4 million views, according to TV Line. That not only makes Elemental have a good 10 million view lead on 2023’s Disney Plus movie debut runner-up, the live-action The Little Mermaid remake (which generated 16 million views for its premiere), but it also places the Peter Sohn-directed film as one of the all-time top 10 Disney Plus movie premieres.

As someone who missed Elemental in theaters but ended up contributing to one of its Disney Plus views during a recent family movie night, I will admit the movie surprised me. Granted, I didn’t think the movie would be bad, per se, but so much publicity surrounding the movie apparently flopping at the box office tampered with my expectations quite a bit. With that said, I knew the Pixar magic was back (or never left, really) when the fiery Ember (Leah Lewis) touched hands for the first time with the watery Wade (Mamoudou Athie), creating an unforgettable sizzle at their point of contact.

While it is true that Elemental‘s $30 million opening domestic weekend on July 16 was seen as a disappointment, the movie’s staying power in theaters proved not totally to be dead in the water in the long term. All in all, Elemental gained a $484 million worldwide haul. That’s nothing to scoff at but is slightly less impressive when considering the movie’s $200 million production cost. Hopefully, Elemental‘s Disney Plus success can contribute to an overall financial positive for the company, as the film truly deserves recognition.

You can catch Elemental on Disney Plus now.