Elio is a 2025 American animated science fiction adventure film directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina, and written by Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brandon Moon, Brad Garrett, and Jameela Jamil. It follows eleven-year-old Elio (Kibreab) who is mistaken for the intergalactic ambassador of Earth after being beamed up to the Communiverse by aliens for making contact, and must navigate a crisis that involves the warlord Grigon (Garrett), who is the father of the alien child Glordon (Edgerly) who Elio befriends.
Elio was conceived by Molina as a story about childhood and social isolation and was inspired by growing up on a military base and his eventual enrollment at the California Institute of the Arts. The film was officially announced in September 2022, with Molina attached to direct. Molina later left the project due to creative differences and moved to work on Coco 2 (2029). In August 2024, it was announced that Shi and Sharafian would replace him as lead directors. The production team devised a process, titled the "College Project", to create the look of the space setting, the Communiverse. The film was produced with a virtual anamorphic lens and Pixar's new Luna lighting toolset was used to quickly define lighting and the overall aesthetic. Its musical score was composed by Rob Simonsen.
Elio premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 10, 2025, and was released in the United States on June 20. The film received generally positive reviews from critics but underperformed at the box office, grossing $154 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $150–200+ million. The film has been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards, and the Academy Awards, as well as a leading 10 nominations at the 53rd Annie Awards including Best Feature.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
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