Elio: Disney pushes back the premiere of Pixar's sci-fi adventure 

Disney and Pixar's collaborative project Elio is expecting a delay in theaters as the animated film is now slated to release on June 20, 2025, postponing its previous release date of June 13, 2025.

The decision comes in reference to June 13 being the release date of DreamWorks' live-action film How to Train Your Dragon; both films catered to a similar age-group audience. Releasing on the same day, the films would have clashed in theaters, leading to poor performances on their end. To avoid this, Disney is pushing back Elio's theatrical release to give the film its own time to shine.

However, Elio will now be against Sony Pictures' 28 Years Later. Since both films come from separate genres, the clash is unlikely to cause any of the films involved to lose out on a stellar box office performance.

The production house is also giving Elio more time to perform positively as it's one of the only three animated films releasing between March to July. The other two are The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and Smurfs.

Disney is looking at quite a few releases this year as the animation studio has lined up four projects so far, with more releasing in the coming years. Some release dates for Disney projects this year are:

Snow White (live-action) – March 21

Lilo & Stitch (live-action) – May 23

Elio (Pixar) – June 20

Zootopia 2 (Disney) – November 26

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What is Elio about?

Elio is a space adventure film centering on a misfit Elio who is obsessed with space and before he dreams of going there, he is sought out by intergalactic people who mistakenly accept him as Earth's leader as disaster follows.

The official synopsis of the Disney film reads,

“For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers — in Disney and Pixar’s all-new feature film Elio, the universe calls back! The cosmic misadventure introduces Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination and a huge alien obsession."

It further continues,

“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.”

Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina directed the film, which stars Yonas Kibreab as Elio, Zoe Saldaña as Aunt Olga, Brad Garrett as Lord Grigon, and Jameela Jamil as Ambassador Questa.

Elio is hitting theatres on 20 June 2025.