‘Elemental’ director Peter Sohn on the film’s evolution from superhero story to something personal

As the film was being developed, it went through several big narrative changes. Sohn knew the kind of story he wanted to tell, but there was still work to be done to nail down the specifics. Early versions had villains, but Sohn says that turned it into basically another superhero movie, and that’s not the kind of story his team was trying to tell.