Pixar’s Elemental failed to excite moviegoers in China on its opening weekend, reportedly bringing in a meager $5.3 million. It marks Disney’s second Chinese box-office bomb in a row, following the studio’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, which has also fizzled with local audiences.
Elemental is expected to cumulatively gross just $18 million in China, according to the Chinese ticketing service Maoyan, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. That’s a far cry from Disney Pixar’s Soul, which grossed nearly $58 million in China in 2020.
China Box Office: ‘The Flash’ Opens Sluggishly, ‘Elemental’ Fizzles https://t.co/pjRYDXJRHU
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 19, 2023
Disney’s The Little Mermaid continues to bomb with Chinese audiences, so far bringing in a laughable $3.7 million in three weeks of release. Hollywood industry insiders have sought to blame racism for the movie’s failure in overseas markets.
Under newly returned CEO Bob Iger, the Walt Disney Co. has sought to reinvigorate its relationship with China. Censors in Beijing have granted more release dates to Disney films after icing the studio out of the local market under former CEO Bob Chapek.
But aside from Avatar: The Way of Water, Disney movies have so far failed to spark much interest from Chinese audiences.
Instead, they are gravitating toward the Transformers, which has long been an audience favorite. Paramount’s prequel Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has so far brought in $61.7 million after two weeks of release in China.
As Breitbart News reported, Elemental also bombed with U.S. moviegoers, grossing around $30 million on its debut weekend, well short of projections for a $35 million premiere weekend. It marks the worst opening of a Pixar movie in three decades.
Elemental features a gender “non-binary” character who uses “they/them” pronouns — a fact that Disney kept hidden from the public in the lead-up to the movie’s release.
The Walt Disney Co. has been aggressively pushing transgenderism and other forms of gender non-conformity in its entertainment aimed at children.
Disney+’s Marvel series series Loki recently revealed that its title character is “gender fluid.” The animated Disney+ series Baymax features a transgender “man” who menstruates and gives advice on which maxi pad to buy — “the one with wings.”
Meanwhile, The Little Mermaid star Melissa McCarthy publicly said her performance as the villain Ursula was inspired by drag queens.
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