America Ferrera to Star in Pixar Sci-Fi Adventure ‘Elio’

America Ferrera will star in “Elio,” an upcoming science fiction animated movie set to be released by Pixar in spring 2024. The movie was announced during the D23 Expo on Friday.

“Elio” tells the story of the titular 11-year-old boy, who is struggling to fit in until he suddenly gets beamed up by aliens and is chosen to be the galactic ambassador of earth. Ferrera voices Olga, Elio’s mother, who is working on a top-secret project to decode alien messages. Yonas Kibreab voices the titular character.

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Ferrera is best known for her Emmy-winning role as Betty Suarez in “Ugly Betty.” In addition, she starred from 2015 to 2021 in the critically acclaimed NBC sitcom “Superstore,” and also directed several episodes and co-produced. Other notable roles include the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and this year’s Apple TV+ miniseries “WeCrashed.” Next year will see her star opposite Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated “Barbie” live-action movie. As a voice actor, Ferrera previously voiced the character Astrid in the three “How to Train Your Dragon” films for DreamWorks Animation.

“Elio” was one of several projects teased by the company during the Friday animation panel. In addition, the company also revealed footage of “Elemental,” an upcoming film directed by Peter Sohn about people living in a city who are made out of the four elements. The movie is scheduled to release in theaters June 16, 2023. In addition, the company announced “Inside Out 2,” a sequel to the 2015 animated movie starring Amy Poehler.

See first-look concept art of “Elio” below.

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