Box Office: Inside Out 2 Jumps for Joy With $62 Million Opening Day the Biggest of 2

 Posted on September 13, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  979 words  |  Martina Birk

Don’t be afraid to catch feelings. Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” just scored the biggest box office opening day of the year so far, earning a spectacular $62 million across Friday and preview screenings from 4,440 locations. It will have no trouble blasting past the $82.5 million debut earned by “Dune: Part Two” to overtake it as the biggest domestic opening of 2024. It’ll also be the first release to notch a nine-figure domestic opening in nearly 11 months — the last one to get above $100 million was “Barbie” last summer.

It’s a welcome bounce back for Pixar Animation Studios, which has struggled at the box office in recent years after Disney sent films like “Turning Red,” “Soul” and “Luca” directly to Disney+ during the COVID pandemic, a decision that Pixar head (and the director of the original “Inside Out”) Pete Docter says “trained” audiences to watch the studio’s features on streaming.

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Now, “Inside Out 2” has lifted the animation studio back to being a major theatrical draw. It looks to land one of Pixar’s top-five domestic openings ever, falling somewhere among the ranks of “Incredibles 2” ($182 million), “Finding Dory” ($135 million), “Toy Story 4” ($120 million) and “Toy Story 3” ($110 million). (Conspicuously, all of these are sequels.)

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Reviews are very positive and early moviegoers love the film, as indicated by audience survey firm Cinema Score’s glowing “A” grade. With a $200 million production budget, Disney and Pixar bet big on “Inside Out 2” and the investment has paid off. It has the right momentum for a fruitful run long beyond its opening weekend.

Kelsey Mann directs the heady sequel, which sees the young Riley entering puberty and her noggin contending with new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Nostalgia (June Squibb). Amy Poehler, Lewis Black and Phyllis Smith also reprise their voice roles from the 2015 original.

After its impressive No. 1 opening last weekend, Sony and Columbia’s “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” looks to stay strong in second place. The buddy actioner is projecting a fantastic $31.5 million gross in its sophomore outing, which would be down only 44% from its $56 million opening weekend. The Will Smith and Martin Lawrence sequel should push beyond $100 million domestic through its first 10 days of release.

Along with “Bad Boys” and “Inside Out 2,” the coming days will see a third release get to $100 million domestic with Paramount’s “IF” still sticking around theaters. The family comedy is looking at $3.6 million for its fifth weekend of release, good for fifth place, and will inch past nine figures in North America sometime Sunday.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is climbing back up to third place, now more than one month after its domestic debut. 20th Century Studios’ sci-fi revival took in another $1.3 million on Friday and should inch past $160 million in North America sometime in the next week.

In fourth place, Sony’s “The Garfield Movie” is facing its steepest drop yet after some strong holds, as “Inside Out 2” looks to take the majority of family audiences’ attention. Even so, the Alcon-animated film is looking at about $5.3 million for its fourth weekend. It will pass $75 million domestic sometime Saturday.

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