Box office bombs are a regular occurrence in Hollywood, and even films with outstanding performers can tank. No one wants to see a movie fail, but alas, it's inevitable.

Pixar has largely been an outstanding studio with incredible films, but even they are not immune from a box office bomb. Those bombs have become some of their least popular movies, and if the current trend for Lightyear, the studio's latest release, is an indication, then it will become one of the studio's biggest disappointments yet.

So, why is Lightyear failing at the box office? Let's take a closer look and see why people aren't rushing to theaters to see this sci-fi flick.

'Lightyear' Is Underperforming At The Box Office

Recently, Lightyear became the first Pixar's movie since Onward to get a major release at the box office. The studio opted to put movies like Soul, Luca, and Turning Red on Disney+, so clearly, the studio felt that Lightyear, which featured everyone's favorite Space Ranger was going to be a slam dunk return to PIxar's former box office domination.

They were wrong.

The film has been drastically underperforming at the box office, to the point where it's looking like a legitimate box office bomb. This is something that Pixar has largely avoided during its storied history, but alas, even Buzz Lightyear couldn't make big things happen without the rest of the Andy's toys.

This past weekend at the box office, the film took home a dubious Pixar record.

According to Forbes, Lightyear "earned just $17.7 million in its second domestic weekend. That’s a record-for-Pixar drop of 65%. Lightyear’s “falling without style” drop single-handedly prevented theaters from getting the first “the entire top five grosses $20 million each” weekend since July of 2016. The $200 million sci-fi actioner has earned $88.7 million domestic (suggesting a total just over/under The Good Dinosaur’s $127 million finish) and $63.2 million overseas for a $153 million global cume."

Sadly, there are many reasons why Lightyear is tanking.

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It's Not Getting Great Reviews

One of the factors in Lightyear performing poorly at the box office is the critical reception that it's been receiving. Simply put, many people see this as a mediocre Pixar offering, something that the studio rarely does.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has just a 75% with critics, and it's drawn its share of criticism.

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote, "The film is content to play out within a limited bandwidth and, therefore, fails to soar in the direction of exciting new frontiers."

Out of the 26 movies in Pixar's history, the 75% places Lightyear at the 21 spot between Monsters University and Brave. This makes Lightyear the owner of the worst score for a Toy Story movie.

To be fair, the movie did better with fans, enjoying a score of 85%, but clearly, word-of-mouth isn't spreading enough to help the film out.

The lackluster critical reception is surely playing a factor in Lightyear's box office performance, but this is not the only thing that's been plaguing the movie. In fact, its biggest problem has been apparent since the film was announced years back.

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People Don't Understand What It Is

The other major problem surrounding Lightyear is the fact that people aren't entirely sure what it is.

In short, Lightyear is the movie that Andy saw when he was a kid, which piqued his interest in getting a Buzz Lightyear toy. In other words, the toy that we spent decades with is based on the character from the movie that we are finally getting to see today. That point of confusion has certainly soured people on seeing the movie.

The decision to go this route also reared its ugly head when Tim Allen was no longer voicing the character, something that has drawn the ire of many fans. Yes, we all love Chris Evans, but many people were taken aback when it was his voice coming form Buzz's mouth and not Tim Allen's iconic delivery.

Upon the film's release, news of a same-sex relationship also made headlines, something that got the film outright banned from a few places. This had an impact on its box office performance, though not enough for the film to be struggling this badly on a global scale.

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Overall, Lightyear seems to be a fine Pixar movie, but the lackluster reviews coupled with general confusion about the movie has doomed it to its current run at the box office. Who knows, maybe it will turn it around and put up colossal numbers once it hits Disney+, much like Encanto did recently.

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