Pixar must be jumping for Joy right now, as Inside Out 2‘s $62 million opening day is 2024’s best so far. The film is also on track to beat Dune: Part Two‘s $82.5 million opening weekend haul to become the biggest overall opening weekend of the year.
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The strong performance is a welcome return to form for Pixar, which has underperformed at the box office in the past few years. The decision to send movies like Soul, Turning Red, and Luca straight to Disney+ during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic made audiences think of Pixar’s work as something they could just watch on streaming. 2022’s Lightyear disappointed at the box office, grossing $226.4 million worldwide against its $200 million production budget. Then in 2023, Pixar saw its worst-ever opening to date with Elemental, a film that happily strengthened over the course of its run to take in $496.4 million worldwide.
With such a strong start, Inside Out 2 is poised to become one of Pixar’s highest openings, second only to The Incredibles 2. If it manages to top The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s $146.4 million opening, Inside Out 2 will also see the second-highest opening of any animated film ever. (Once again, The Incredibles 2 reigns supreme here.)
Rounding out the top spots for this weekend’s box office are Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and The Garfield Movie.
Inside Out 2 is now in theaters.
