Elio (film)

Elio is an upcoming American animated science fiction adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina, and written by Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones, from a story by Sharafian, Shi, and Molina, the film stars the voices of Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil, and Shirley Henderson. It follows an eleven-year-old boy named Elio Solis (Kibreab) who accidentally becomes the intergalactic ambassador of planet Earth after being beamed up to the Communiverse by aliens for making contact. He must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms and navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions.

Elio was conceived by Molina as a "personal coming-of-age story about youthful alienation." He was inspired by his childhood growing up at a military base and eventual enrollment at the California Institute of the Arts when developing the story. The film was officially announced at the D23 Expo in September 2022, with Molina and Drumm already attached to the project as director and producer respectively. Molina later left the project to work on Coco 2 (2029), and in August 2024, it was announced that Shi and Sharafian would replace Molina as the lead directors. The production team devised a process, titled the "College Project", to create the look of the space setting, Communiverse. Pixar's new Luna lighting toolset allowed for the team to more quickly define lighting and the film's overall aesthetic which was shot using a virtual anamorphic lens. Its musical score is being composed by Rob Simonsen.

Elio is scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on June 20, 2025. The film has received positive reviews from critics.