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Pixar’s Delayed Film Elio Gets New Directors and MCU Star Zoe Saldaña
Pixar has revealed some behind-the-scenes changes for their next film, Elio with new director.
Pixar detailed some behind-the-scene changes to Elio. The movie follows the story of an eleven-year-old boy mistaken by aliens to be the ambassador of Earth. The teaser for the film came out in June 2023 but was moved to March 2025.
In an interview with The Wrap, Pixar's Chief Creative Officer Pete Doctor announced that Elio will be directed by Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian. Adrian Molina was originally set to direct the film, but has been moved to a another project. Doctor believes Molina is excited about the new direction and the project. Zoe Saldaña has also joined to play Elio's aunt Olga, replacing America Ferrera as she was forced to pull out due her other commitments.
Doctor also talked about about the two new directors and their contribution to the film. He said, "The two of them are really doing a fantastic job...they have both such respect for each other and a great working style that is working out really well...I can’t really even talk about it without giving away plot points, but I think they’ve made some major discoveries on him [Elio] that really helped the audience to connect and to move forward with the character into the second act, which is, course, where all the meat happens. Adrian had done such great work, finding the emotional core to the thing."
Both Elio and Snow White were pushed out a year into 2025 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. With Elio, it was also because huge number work was required to be reworked in the movie. The change to a film's story is not new for Pixar, but Elio marks the first time where both names are credited as directors, rather than co-directors.
Elio revolves around a young boy, Elio Solis-an eleven-year-old who accidentally finds himself as the ambassador of Earth to the rest of the galaxy after some aliens beamed him up to the Communiverse for making contact. Elio must forge new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms and survive a series of trials that may well be impossible to overcome.
Pixar's history epitomizes this notion of change, as seen in the reworks of both Toy Story 2 and Ratatouille. With nine months to release, Toy Story 2 was reworked into a very chaotic turn around but became one of the best-animated movies of all time. With Jan Pinkava at its helm, Ratatouille underwent reworks with 18 months to release and the film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Film.
In 2010, Brenda Chapman was also removed from Brave, a box-office hit and eventual Academy Award winner, only for Mark Andrews to take over. Even then, the movie received criticism for having exceptional trailers. The same went on with Bob Peterson, the creator of The Good Dinosaur, having been taken off the movie because of continuous story issues. The latter was delayed from May 30, 2014, to November 25, 2015, Peter Sohn moved from co-director to full director.
Elio is set to be released theatrically in the United States on June 13, 2025, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film previously had been scheduled for release on March 1, 2024, until October 2023, when the movie was delayed to this date.
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