Pixar’s Upcoming Animated Film ‘Elio’ to Push Genre and Ratings Boundaries with Sci-Fi and Horror References, Director Says

After nine years, Pixar finally released the sequel to its 2015 Oscar-winning hit Inside Out. Inside Out 2 will remain as the company’s only 2024 release, but boy, was it a hit. With $1.698 billion, the movie ascended to the top place of this year’s box office and will most likely remain this year’s top-earning movie.

Now, after a rough patch, Pixar is definitely looking to continue down the path set by Inside Out 2, and they are hoping that Elio, their next release, will mimic the success of Inside Out 2. Elio is set for a June 13, 2025 release (around the same time as Inside Out 2 was released) and will be Pixar’s only 2025 release, so the formula is there.

But, in a recent interview, one of the directors of the movie, Madeline Sharafian, who worked on Coco and Turning Red, discussed how Elio is going to be very different and how it might probably push the genre and rating boundaries for Pixar when it comes out next year.

As stated, Elio is scheduled to be released next year, and it will follow the release formula set by Inside Out 2, with the studio hoping to mimic the same success as this year’s hit.

The movie is coming to us from directing trio Domee Shi, Madeline Sharafian (in her feature directorial debut), and Adrian Molina, and will be produced by Mary Alice Drumm. The official synopsis reveals the following:

Elio is a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession. So, when he’s beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide, Elio’s all in for the epic undertaking. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader, Elio must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions, and somehow discover who and where he is truly meant to be.

The movie will star Yonas Kibreab as Elio Solis, Jameela Jamil as Ambassador Questa, Brad Garrett as Lord Grigon, Zoe Saldaña as Olga Solis, Remy Edgerly as Glordon, and Shirley Henderson as OOOOO.

Now, the premiere is still a long way to go, and we still have a lot to find out about the movie, but in a recent interview with Empire, Madeline Sharafian revealed that Elio will be a movie that will push the boundaries for Pixar, both in terms of genre and rating:

[Elio has] some sci-fi horror references. It’s one of our best surprises, so I don’t want to give away too much. I’m always trying to push it to be weirder and a little creepier, to ride that line of the PG movie.

Source: ScreenRant

If all of this turns out to be true, then we’re really in for something exciting and something new, which is, to be frank, something the fans have been wanting for some time now. Before we’re done, here is the recently released teaser:

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