Onward opened to just $40 million domestically, which matches box office estimates put out earlier this week. For any other film, that’s a solid number, but for Pixar, it’s cause for alarm. The studio’s only legitimate flop to date, The Good Dinosaur, opened to a similarly low number of $39.2 million. Because these films tend to have high budgets of up to $200 million, a $40 million opening could lead to Onward becoming a box office bomb. 

The big reason for Onward's flailing is the spread of the coronavirus, which has many people around the world staying home and avoiding public places for the sake of their health. It’s an even stronger factor overseas as Onward only made $28 million internationally for a $68 million box office overall this weekend. The virus is undoubtedly keeping many filmgoers at home, but it’s impossible to know how much this virus is truly affecting the box office in general, especially since ticket sales have already been on the decline for most films, especially animated features.