‘Inside Out 2’ Brings Joy Back to Domestic Box Office With Second-Biggest Animated Debut Ever (2024)

Father’s Day weekend is overcompensating for the underwhelming summer so far, with Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out 2 vastly exceeding expectations in its debut frame. The animated sequel grossed an estimated $155 million in its first three days of release, setting numerous box office records and almost single-handedly reviving a struggling marketplace. The movie was expected to gross around $100 million heading into the weekend; by comparison, the first Inside Out grossed $90 million in its first three days of release in 2015, on its way to a $356 million lifetime domestic haul.

Directed by debutante Kelsey Mann, Inside Out 2 broke Dune: Part Two's record for the year’s biggest debut, and also delivered the second-biggest opening of all time for an animated film, behind Pixar’s own Incredibles 2 ($182 million in 2018). Until Saturday, Inside Out 2 was expected to fall short of The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s $146 million domestic debut from last year, but family audiences appear to have turned out in droves. The film earned an A CinemaScore from opening day audiences while recording a stellar 96% audience approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

The film’s official RT score currently stands at a “fresh” 92%, with Collider’s Ross Bonaimecalling it Pixar’s best since Soul in early-pandemic 2020. The legendary animation house has had its share of struggles in the last few years, with a series of underperformers. Unlike other animation studios, which have vastly reduced spending on their titles — some of the biggest recent hits were produced for less than $100 million — Pixar reportedly spent a studio-standard $200 million on Inside Out 2. At this rate, however, a final global tally of over $1 billion may be in the cards.

Overall Business this Weekend Exceeded $200 Million

While Inside Out 2 ate into the audience of at least a couple of other films this weekend, Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die delivered a solid second-weekend performance, dropping by just 41% and grossing an estimated $33 million. This takes the action-comedy’s running domestic haul past the coveted $100 million mark, with the current estimated gross standing at over $110 million. This past weekend, the long-running franchise also crossed the $1 billion mark in global box office revenue, and Sony would now hope for Bad Boys: Ride or Die to eventually overtake its immediate predecessor, Bad Boys for Life, which concluded its worldwide run with around $430 million in early 2020.

Coming off mostly unharmed in its sixth weekend, 20th Century Studios’ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes added an estimated $5 million, taking its running domestic total to around $160 million. Notably, the movie had a stunning 5% drop from last weekend, explicitly demonstrating the power of windowing. The Garfield Movie took a direct hit from Inside Out 2 this weekend, as it reported its biggest drop yet. The animated film grossed an estimated $5 million in its fourth weekend, which takes its running domestic total to just under $80 million. Passing the $100 million milestone by the end of its run is still a possibility, but the movie’s performance so far can’t help but feel like a disappointment in comparison to Super Mario last year, as well as several other recent animated releases.

Rounding out the top five, Warner Bros.’ The Watchers added $3.6 million in its second weekend, taking its running total to nearly $14 million. Elsewhere, Paramount’s IF grossed an estimated $3.5 million in its fifth weekend, also taking a hit from Inside Out 2. But the movie finally passed the $100 million milestone, despite a soft opening and mixed reviews. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Inside Out 2

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Follow Riley, in her teenage years, encountering new emotions.

Release Date

June 14, 2024

Director

Kelsey Mann

Cast

Amy Poehler , Maya Hawke , Phyllis Smith , Lewis Black , Tony Hale , Liza Lapira

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