In a summer cinema release schedule filled with sequels, remakes and franchise instalments, Disney’s latest animation Elio is a rare original story.
Recently, much has been written and hands been wrung about the lack of original films in Hollywood. Indeed, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in 2024 that the studio’s output would primarily be sequels, saying: “There’s a lot of value in the sequels obviously because they’re known and it takes less in terms of marketing”. At least he’s honest.
Elio is an unknown entity for the studio and indeed for 2025’s cinema goers. Fittingly, the film tackles the most unknown entities of all: outer space and life beyond Earth. What does this new story have to offer today’s cinema audiences who are accustomed to characters they already know and onscreen worlds that they have already visited?
