Disney’s “Inside Out 2” excites the summer box office with the best opening of the year
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Introducing “Anxiety”… Over the weekend, Disney’s “Inside Out 2” — which features animated characters like Joy, Sadness, and Envy — became the second-biggest animated movie debut ever in the US (psst: not adjusted for inflation). The sequel to the emotional 2015 Pixar hit raked in $155M domestically, crushing expectations of $90M. Overseas, “Inside Out 2” stole the crown from Elsa, becoming the biggest animated opening ever (again, not inflation adjusted). It dethroned Disney’s “Frozen II,” which came out in 2019.
Happy hour: “Inside Out 2” is the biggest box office opening weekend of the year so far, topping Warner Bros’ “Dune: Part Two,” which spiced up theater attendance in March.
Cold popcorn… The summer movie season got off to a chilly start after Memorial Day weekend saw the worst box office #s in over two decades (excluding during the pandemic). Last year’s Hollywood strikes led to fewer films in the pipeline for the top half of the year, and several of the blockbusters that came out this year have flopped (like: “Madame Web,” “Furiosa”). Meanwhile, studios waited for summer vacay to drop kid-friendly films. As of May 31, box office revenue was down $800M from the same time last year. But with “Inside Out 2” outperforming expectations, there’s hope that the script could be flipping.
Sequels can afford to make audiences wait… They already have an established fan base, and filmmakers need time to meet audiences’ lofty expectations. “Inside Out” came out nearly a decade ago, but the sequel seems to have paid off for Disney. Pixar’s had many high-grossing hits with franchise flicks like “Incredibles 2,” “Toy Story 4,” and “Finding Dory.” And Disney’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which came out 13 years after the original, has grossed $2B+ worldwide.