There was a time when the moment a new Pixar title landed a release date, every other studio threw up its hands as a sea of suits whined, “Well, THAT weekend’s out.”

But post-COVID, factoring in inflation, “family” audiences are looking for more assurance than a simple studio brand name that the comfort food for kids they crave will deliver. Disney and now Dreamworks have pandered to that by remaking their animated hits as “live action” with CGI magic, and this summer has been owned by a “new” “Lilo & Stitch,” followed by a “new” take on “How to Train Your Dragon” from Dreamworks.

Pixar puts out an original animated adventure, and it barely moves the needle.

“Elio” opened at a near-disastrous $21 million, based on a middling preview performance and a Friday that combined ($9 million) didn’t even do as well as their similarly original “hard sell” “Elemental” of a couple of years back. Saturdays were the big tell for animated family movies, and it didn’t help.

The Dreamworks live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” will own that audience and this weekend, with a second week take in the $37 million.

Reviews aren’t exactly over-the-moon for “Elio,” as Pixar seems to have aged out of its way with engaging characters and winning stories. International box office may allow this one to earn back its $150 million budget, but the day may be coming when there’s a shakeup at Pixar, as their
“original” misses are starting to pile up.

Thats the worst opening weekend ever for a Pixar title.

Danny Boyle’s third film in his “rage virus” zombie allegory has brand recognition, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes, and that adds up to “28 Years Later” rolling up $30 million on its opening weekend.

You’d think people would be sick of zombies.

The script reaches for allegory and grace notes, lamenting the state of humanity and messaging compassion in between the over-the-top, “House of a Thousand Corpses” violence. Reviews overall have been decent to near-enthusiastic.

“Lilo & Stitch” adds another $9.7 million or so to slide to fourth place, and should clear the $400 million mark by next weekend, Saturday at the latest.

“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” may have vanished from the national conversation and from box office bragging, but it’s in the top five for one last weekend, earning another $6.5 million, although being just short of $180 million means it won’t clear the $200 million mark before it loses its screens and goes streaming. It’s already bested the “Dead Reckoning” that preceded it at the US/Canadian box office.

The cynical and unromantic all-star “Materialists” lost half its opening weekend mojo and cleared $5 million on its second weekend, pointing to a $30-35 million take by the time it loses all its screens and finishes its run. It’ll have cleared $23 million by midnight Sunday.

John Wick World “Ballerina” is out of the top five and fading fast, “The Life of Chuck,” and the spring box office smash “Sinners” drop out of the top ten,.

“Kuberra,” and Indian release in a lot of theaters, managed to crack the top ten at over $1.7 million.

A second Rebel Wilson small-distributor comedy of the year, “Bride Hard,” is proving as hard a sell as her “Juliet & Romeo” — terrible reviews, limited box office appeal.