Despite all claims to the contrary, moviegoing is alive and well in the world. The secret is giving audiences what they want. In this case, families were more than willing to pony up for Pixar’s Inside Out 2, propelling the long-awaited sequel to a joyous $155 million stateside debut or the second-best animated opening of all time. Wow. That number bests last year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146.3M) and trails only The Incredible 2’s $182.7M opening in 2018.
Globally, the sequel collected $140M from 38 international markets, bringing its worldwide total to a staggering $295M. No one saw this coming. Last week, pundits projected an $80-90M stateside opening. Never discount the power of the family film. As it turns out, parents were more than willing to hand over the extra cash to enjoy the colorful adventure on Imax, to the tune of $14.5M globally.
Inside Out 2 easily becomes 2024’s biggest opener, besting Dune: Part II’s $182.5M and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s $194M. Again, give people a reason to go to the movies, and they will answer the call.
The question now becomes how high Inside Out 2 will fly. Besting the original’s $850M seems like a certainty, but will it soar higher and join Zootopia, Finding Dory, and Frozen in the billion-dollar club? An A CinemaScore is promising, but a busy summer release slate, notably Despicable Me 4 on July 3, might cap its potential.
Elsewhere, Bad Boys: Ride or Die held strong in its second weekend, collecting an additional $33M (-42%) to raise its domestic cume to $112.2M. That’s a better hold than Bad Boys for Life (-45%). Worldwide, the pic sits at $214M. Will the fourth film in the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence franchise zip past the third chapter’s $426M global gross?
Box Office Results: Domestic Top 10
1.) Inside Out 2 (Dis) 4,440 theaters, Fri $62M, Sat $51M Sun $42M 3-day $155M/Wk 1
2.) Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Sony) 3,885 theaters, Fri $8.5M (-60%) Sat $12.1MSun $12.3M, 3-day $33M (-42%), Total $112.2M/Wk 2
3.) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th/Dis) 2,600 (-555) theaters, Fri $1.3M (-10%) Sat $1.9M Sun $2M 3-day $5.2M (-4%), Total $157.8M/Wk 6
4.) Garfield Movie (Sony) 3,411 (-548) theaters, Fri $1.5M (-48%) Sat $1.7M Sun $1.7M 3-day $5M (-47%) Total $78.5M/Wk 4
5.) Watchers (NL) 3,351 theaters, Fri $1.1M (-62%) Sat $1.3M Sunday $1.2M 3-day $3.66M (-48%), Total $13.66M/Wk 2
6.) IF (Par) 3,006 (-576) theaters, Fri $1.07M (-54%), Sat $1.2M Sun $1M 3-day $3.45M (-56%) Total $100.9M/Wk 5
7.) Furiosa (WB) 1,874 (-1110) theaters, Fri $625K (-48%) Sat $925K Sun $875K 3-day $2.4M (-42%) Total $63.1M/Wk 4
8.) The Fall Guy (Uni) 1,663 (-747) theaters, Fri $430K (-48%) Sat $600K Sun $470K 3-day $1.5M (-42%), Total $87.9M/Wk 7
9.) Strangers – Part 1 (LG) 1,027 (-989) Fri $257K Sat $291K Sun $212K 3-day $760K (-55%) Total $33.9M/Wk 5
10.) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (NL/Fath) 1,035 (-494) theaters, Sat $642K, Total $3M/Wk 2
Source: Deadline