This weekend, Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” made a huge splash, ending Hollywood’s worries about summer movies. Studios say that the animated follow-up made $155 million from ticket sales in 4,440 theaters in the U.S. and Canada on Sunday.
Not only is it the biggest opening weekend for an animated movie ever (after “Incredibles 2” in 2018 with $182.7 million), but it’s also the biggest of 2024 and the biggest since “Barbie.” “Inside Out 2” had an amazing and record-breaking $295 million global start, with about $140 million coming from showings in other countries.
As the head of Disney DIS, -0.12%’s theatrical distribution, Tony Chambers was sure that the movie would do “extremely well.” But even he was shocked by how much it went above and beyond his already high hopes.
“Great movies are why people go to the theater,” Chambers said. “Reviews and word of mouth helped get this going…” There are more and more of them.
It’s important to note that people of all ages and backgrounds watched “Inside Out 2.” He said that after COVID, big hits depend on getting multicultural audiences.
The success is big for Pixar because it’s a much-needed return to form for a studio that has had a string of disappointing releases, like “Elemental,” which did become a success, and “Lightyear,” which didn’t. It is also very important for Hollywood as a whole and for the health of theaters, which had been losing 26% of their revenue.
“This was important for everyone because success breeds success,” Chambers said. Exhibitors and other studios have been calling him with excitement. “Great for the business, great for Pixar, and great for the industry as a whole.”
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which was already having a good summer with $5.2 million in its sixth weekend, put Disney in third place and brought its total to $374.5 million around the world. The next one is “Deadpool & Wolverine” (July 26).
“Inside Out 2,” which picks up with Riley when she is 13, was directed by Kelsey Mann. That means that new feelings, such as Anxiety (Maya Hawke) and Envy (Ayo Edebiri), are coming to Joy’s (Amy Poehler) party. There were 92% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and 84% of people who saw it gave it an A CinemaScore, which suggests that it won’t be a one-weekend wonder. Kids are off from school, and the market is wide open until “Despicable Me 4” comes out over the Fourth of July. This means that “Inside Out 2” is just getting started.
A senior media analyst for Comscore named Paul Dergarabedian said, “This is a huge weekend for movie theaters.”
This movie, “Inside Out 2,” is thought to have cost around $200 million to make, not counting the millions that were spent on advertising it. Before the weekend, it looked like it would open to around $90 million, which is about the same as “Inside Out’s” first weekend in June 2019. That alone would have been a huge success, and it would have been enough to claim the biggest opening of the year, finally beating March releases like Warner Bros.’ WBD, -0.69% “Dune: Part Two” and “Godzilla x Kong.”
According to Daniel Loria of Boxoffice Pro, this is a big turning point for the whole theater business in 2024. “This is the kind of weekend we’ve been looking forward to.”
It was the only big movie coming out that weekend, but it played on 400 IMAX screens, over 900 “premium large format” screens, and over 2,500 3D screens, which is a pretty big number.
This return to theaters comes after Disney sent several Pixar movies, like “Soul,” “Luca,” and “Turning Red,” straight to its streaming service, Disney+, during the pandemic. The New York Times said last month that Pixar had decided to focus on making movies again instead of making shows for Disney+ and had fired 175 workers, or 14% of its workforce.
As important this weekend is for the whole business, this is huge for Pixar. For the past few months, they’ve been trying to get back into the swing of things, Dergarabedian said. “They’re back in a big way.”
Second place went to “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” from Sony (SONY, -2.24%), which made $33 million in its second weekend, only 42% less than its first weekend. It has already made over $112 million in the US and $214 million around the world in just 12 days. As of Friday, the group of four movies had made more than $1 billion.
Last weekend’s success of “Bad Boys” was the start of a better summer movie season with higher earnings. In Hollywood, the summer season lasts from the first weekend of May to Labor Day and brings in about 40% of the year’s box office. The deficit is still big—ticket sales were down 28% over the summer and 24% over the course of the year (and that was before “Barbenheimer”)—but things are looking better.
He said, “We’re not going to get there overnight.” “But it’s good for movie theaters.” There are also some big movies coming out soon.
A lot of people in the theater business saw their theaters come to life this weekend.
Jeff Whipple, vice president of Megaplex Theaters, said, “It’s been magical.” “We’ve seen generations of families come together to make this movie.”
In Utah and Southern Nevada, Megaplex Theaters runs 15 theaters with a total of 173 screens. Whipple said that the energy could be felt. Families have been staying late to talk about the movie and check out what’s coming up next. For example, kids have been taking pictures of the “Despicable Me 4” posters and displays, and dads have been making notes about the “Deadpool & Wolverine” date.
Whipple said, “I think word will get out about this movie, which will help bring people to theaters all summer long.”
Comscore estimates how many tickets will be sold at theaters in the U.S. and Canada from Friday to Sunday. On Monday, the final domestic numbers will be made public.
1. “Inside Out 2,” $155 million.
2. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” $33 million.
3. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” $5.2 million.
4. “The Garfield Movie,” $5 million.
5. “The Watchers,” $3.7 million.
6. “IF,” $3.5 million.
7. “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” $2.4 million.
8. “The Fall Guy,” $1.5 million.
9. “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” $760,000.
10. “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” $632,910.
