Elio Trailer: An 11-Year Old Boy Heads To Space In Pixar's Next Movie
"Elemental" is arriving in theaters this weekend, and it sounds like a proper return to the big screen after "Lightyear" turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Since we have a new Pixar movie arriving in multiplexes around the world, that means it's time for the traditional sneak peek at the animation studio's next film.
Pixar will continue digging back into original storytelling concepts with "Elio," a sci-fi adventure first announced at The D23 Expo in 2022, which finds the titular 11-year-old boy as he inadvertently gets sent into outer space after making contact with aliens. But what happens to Elio in space isn't what you might expect.
Elio's mother has been working on a top-secret military project trying to decode a strange signal from space. However, Elio (voiced by young "Sweet Tooth" actor Yonas Kibreab) is the one who somehow manages to communicate with the aliens, and he's suddenly beamed into space. But rather than being in any serious danger, Elio is actually mistaken as an intergalactic ambassador for the planet Earth.
We've got the first trailer Pixar's "Elio" ready for you to check out below.
Watch Pixar's Elio trailer
Adding some charm to this story is the fact that Elio isn't exactly the most confident kid. Though he's artistic and creative, he's also more of an indoor kid who doesn't fit in with his peers. But perhaps being among a group of aliens who aren't human will allow him an opportunity to make a connection without any societal pressure. This just might be the opportunity Elio needs to come out of his shell.
America Ferrera ("How to Train Your Dragon") also stars in "Elio" as the titular character's mother, Olga. When Pixar provided a first look at "Elio" at The D23 Expo last year, Ferrera described the character as "super-confident, smart and can hold her own in any situation," so I imagine that she probably has some trouble dealing with Elio's more introverted tendencies, and she likely has a lesson to learn herself. Pixar and Disney love that kind of dynamic between adults and children in their movies.
Even though it's a teaser trailer, there's plenty of footage on display here, but there's still more to learn about Pixar's next project, and we can't wait to see even more from the movie. Hopefully Pixar has an adventure that skews more towards the quality of something like "WALL-E" than "Lightyear," especially since the latter resulted in some people getting laid off from Pixar, a rarity for the animation studio.
"Elio" is slated to arrive in theaters on March 1, 2024.