Pixar Comes Alive: ‘Inside Out 2’ Turns Box Office Right Side Up With 2nd Best Animated Pic Opening Of All-Time At $155M – Sunday AM Update
SUNDAY AM: Refresh for more…Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 is coming in at the high range of what we told you last night –$155M domestic– and an overall mind-blowing $295M global, by far the biggest Hollywood movie opening both stateside and around the world YTD besting Dune: Part Two ($182.5M) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire at $194M. As we told you, Inside Out 2‘s domestic opening is the second best ever for an animated movie behind Pixar’s Incredibles 2 ($182.6M). The final domestic gross on this sequel is being projected by rival distribution bosses to easily exceed half billion in the end.
EntTelligence counts 12M admissions for Inside Out 2; the last time a movie pulled in north of 10M people was Barbie at 13M. The average ticket price $12.53 while the average ticket price for kids was $10.36. On par with a blockbuster Pixar movie, Inside Out 2 played strong throughout the day with 22% before 1 p.m., 35% between 1PM to 5PM, 26% between 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 17% after 8 p.m.
More from Deadline
‘Inside Out 2’ Review: Pixar’s Talky, Uneventful Sequel Doesn’t Have Much Fun In Mind
Joy To The World! 'Inside Out 2' Thrills With Historic $295M Global Bow - International Box Office
At a current draw of 36% Hispanic and Latino, Inside Out 2 is more diverse than any other Pixar movie outside of Coco. It’s quite evident in this box office environment that if you want a hit, a studio needs to double down on a multi-cultural audience, because that’s the way to ensure great walk-up business. That said, I understand pre-sales began increasing for Inside Out 2 last Monday. Updated PLFs and Imax drove 43% of business with another 14% from 3D. AMC Dine-In Disney Springs in Orlando, FL remains the biggest grossing cinema for the pic in the nation with a near $300K and counting.
The 360 marketing campaign by Disney zeroed in on introducing the new emotions of Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui. It also highlighted humor in trailers and prioritized theatrical appeal to moviegoers so they wouldn’t wait around at home for this sequel on Disney+.
Amy Poehler, who plays Joy in the film, was front and center for this movie, and was the only cast member to travel around the world.
The teaser trailer dropped on Nov. 9 last year and garnered 157M views in the first 24 hours, making it Disney’s most viewed animated trailer of all time, besting previous record holders Frozen 2 and The Incredibles 2.
One key to getting people excited about the sequel was Disney previewing the first 35 minutes of the movie at CinemaCon. There was also a college footage tour.
In a first ever for Disney as far as activations go, the Joy and Sadness walkaround characters stepped out of Disneyland Park and into AMC, Cinemark, Harkins, Regal and other theaters during the Memorial Day holiday and opening weekend for surprise meet and greets.
Trailers for the sequel ran on such films as Mean Girls, Wonka, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Exhibitors had custom on-screen content and concession activations among their promotions. AMC offered exclusive LED memory orb popcorn buckets with a character topper and hosted a Father’s Day RealD Fan Event with keychain giveaway on Friday. Regal also had an exclusive LED Anger popcorn bucket and hosted a Pixar Custom Portrait Sweepstakes. Cinemark offered an exclusive premium with purchase of snack tray, blanket and cup, and ran a Walt Disney World Sweepstakes. Marcus Theaters hosted a Superfan Event Character Funko Giveaway (June 15) while Fandango had a Disneyland Ticket Driver Sweepstakes.
In terms of integrated marketing for the film, audiences entered the minds of Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony on ESPN during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals (May 19-June 2). America’s Got Talent had a full-episode takeover exploring all the emotions during auditions — as well as those of Simon Cowell. In addition, the characters Joy and Sadness visited American Idol contestants with a special look at the film.
There was a Stanley Cup Playoff integration that displayed the emotions of the NHL playoffs as narrated by film talent. Also there was an entire Jeopardy category celebrating the film on Oct. 2 with a special greeting from voiceover actor Tony Hale.
Among the promo partners for Inside Out 2 was McDonalds with a Happy Meal program featuring 10 toy collectibles.
Samsung launched its AI Bubble Inside, Laundry Outshine combo exploring tech on the inside with new AI Bubble Technology.
Airbnb welcomed guests to stay and experience the life-size Headquarters in Las Vegas as part of its groundbreaking Icons’ Core Memories of Pixar program, with a roll out that garnered 915M+ home page listing views.
Microsoft integrated the sequel’s characters into a full suite of experiential educational programs including the Minecraft ED “Build Your Joy” coding game, a Code Arcade make-your-own game, and a Reflect EDU page with themed coloring pages and memory game, reaching more than 39M users. The company also lit up Times Square with a custom Microsoft Cube activation.
Joyburst released its premium hydration beverage collaboration with a “random acts of joy” stunt on Natural Joy Day.
Uber Teen Accounts partnered with Disney for a custom animated spot, in-app promotions, and custom Owala Emotional Support Cups gifted with Uber Eats drops.
Bubble Skincare leveraged its reach on TikTok and its influencer program, and over 4k Ulta and Walmart locations to launch a custom skincare line.
Immi ramen developed recipes and recipe content for a custom spot, its influencer ambassador network, and ramen on the street integrations focused on favorite food memories.
Embark dog DNA tests promoted ‘understanding your pet from the inside out’ with a sweepstakes for premiere tickets, with a custom spot, social and digital program emailers, and 20k in-package inserts.
Paper Mate and Post-it InkJoy gel pens featured the emotions with the brightly colored set and custom spot.
Mango.org supported the movie by running a premiere tickets sweepstakes, offering mango bites at the world premiere, and a “mango” shoutout from Embarrassment voice Paul Walter Hauser following his Emmy win.
And lastly, Casio debuted its G-Shock One Tone watch series in the UK with a campaign pairing the colorful watches with corresponding emotions.
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 $12.1M Sun $12.3M, 3-day $33M (-42%), Total $112.2M/Wk 2, an amazing held besting the second weekend percent ease of Bad Boys for Life (-45%).
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; again, best in franchise stateside.
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; Paramount’s first movie of the year to click past $100M.
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
SATURDAY PM: Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 will feasibly land as the second highest opening for an animated film at the domestic box office with $150M-$155M, notching ahead of Illumination/Universal’s Super Mario Bros Movie from Easter 2023 which made $146.3M in its Friday-Sunday take.
Today the sequel grossed $52M which is up 6% over the pure Friday of $49M, and 16% off the $62M Friday/preview figure of the Kelsey Mann directed sequel. The comp here given the 62% female audience is Disney/Pixar’s Finding Dory, which eased -24% between its Saturday and Father’s Day Sunday back in 2016. That type of decline into tomorrow will get Inside Out 2 to its current opening range.
Many are wondering, even betting that Inside Out 2 bests Barbie‘s $162M opening, but for the Pixar sequel to pull that off, it would require a -6% dip between Saturday and Sunday, and that’s unheard of for a Pixar movie.
Many continue to marvel though about the overperformance of Inside Out 2 after Bad Boys: Ride or Die last weekend. Here’s sophisticated tracking models, which base their projections off of presales, forecasting incorrectly. Essentially the last two weekends have shown a tremendous amount of walk-up and that provides a lot of hope for the movie business going forward this summer. “We’re in a momentum now,” said one rival distribution head who didn’t want to go on the record while pom-poming the competition. When we were coming out of the pandemic, many began going on vacation to a wild degree. Now with less new offerings on streaming, a similar occcurence could be going on here with moviegoing: People now have a need to get out of the house. But remember, it’s always about the movies. Nobody wanted to see Fall Guy or Furiosa last month.
More updates in the AM.
SATURDAY AM: “It’s pacing like Barbie” beamed one rival studio marketing source about Disney/Pixar’s amazing opening weekend with Inside Out 2 which at $140M-$150M could wind up being the second highest opening for animated movie of all-time behind Pixar’s own Incredibles 2 ($182.6M) and ahead of Super Mario Bros Movie ($146.3M). Here’s how Inside Out 2 is akin to Barbie: If you back out the $13M Thursday previews out of the sequel’s $62M first day (the second highest ever for an animated movie), Friday did $49M which more than Barbie‘s first Friday of $48.2M sans Thursday previews. Wow.
Inside Out 2 will give Pixar the top three animated opening days of all-time behind Incredibles 2 ($71.2M) and ahead of Finding Dory ($54.7M).
Rivals see this sequel well above $150M, however, I hear presales are lower than yesterday, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t walk-up business, which is the sheer driver of business. Updated, Latino and Hispanic audiences rep 40% of moviegoers, followed by 31% Caucasian, 13% Black, 10% Asian, and 6% Native American/other. Another indicator of walk-up business is that Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak shows 62% of the audience purchasing their tickets on same day they watched it.
Global running cume is $110.8M so far for Inside Out 2.
Inside Out 2 is repping 70% of the entire box office weekend which should do around $214M for all movies. That’s 31% ahead of the same Father’s Day weekend a year ago when The Flash crashed, 30% ahead of the same frame in 2022, but also 57% ahead of Father’s Day weekend 2019 when Men in Black: International bombed.
PostTrak exits are still huge at 89% positive, 71% definite recommend with 63% women attending and 21% of the audience under 12, 32% between 13-17 (the largest demo), and 51% between 18-34. The sequel is playing best in the West, Mountain and Midwest with the AMC Dine-In Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida, the best location in the nation with $162K so far. Imax and PLFs are accounting for a quarter of the weekend’s ticket sales so far with 14% from 3D.
The chief reason why audiences went to see Inside Out 2 is because 46% of the crowd said it looked fun, while 34% of moviegoers are fans of the franchise. In a clear sign that Disney+ family subscribers will continue to come out to great movies, PostTrak noted that 52% of those watching Inside Out 2 are subs of the Mouse House service, while 44% have Hulu, 43% have Prime Video and 66% have Netflix. If a Disney+ subscriber were to wait and watching Inside Out 2 at home, their kids would experience immense FOMO for these event films won’t hit the OTT service for another 80-90 days, if not more.
Also with an excellent hold is the second frame of Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die which made $8.5M on Friday for what’s shaping up to be a $31.5M weekend, -44% for a running total of $110.7M by EOD Sunday. That second weekend hold isn’t far from the -45% second weekend ease of Bad Boys for Life. Fun Bad Boys trivia: the first movie back in 1995 posted the best second weekend hold of the franchise at -29%.
Keep in mind that summer moviegoing is in fall swing, for not just Bad Boys 4 is flying past the century mark, but Paramount’s IF as well.
1.) Inside Out 2 (Dis) 4,440 theaters, Fri $62M, 3-day $140M-$150M/Wk 1
2.) Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Sony) 3,885 theaters, Fri $8.5M (-60%), 3-day $31.5M (-44%), Total $110.7M/Wk 2
3.) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th/Dis) 2,600 (-555) theaters, Fri $1.3M (-10%) 3-day $5.4M (even), Total $158M/Wk 6
4.) Garfield Movie (Sony) 3,411 (-548) theaters, Fri $1.5M (-48%) 3-day $5.3M (-47%) Total $78.8M/Wk 4
Will become the highest grossing move in the franchise stateside besting 2004’s Garfield: The Movie which finaled at $75.3M.
5.) IF (Par) 3,006 (-576) theaters, Fri $1.07M (-54%), 3-day $3.6M (-54%) Total $101M/Wk 5
6.) Watchers (NL) 3,351 theaters, Fri $1.1M (-62%) 3-day $3.4M (-51%), Total $13.4M/Wk 2
7.) Furiosa (WB) 1,874 (-1110) theaters, Fri $625K (-48%) 3-day $2.4M (-42%) Total $63.1M/Wk 4
8.) The Fall Guy (Uni) 1,663 (-747) theaters, Fri $430K (-48%) 3-day $1.45M (-44%), Total $87.8M/Wk 7
9.) Strangers – Part 1 (LG) 1,027 (-989) Fri $260K (-56%) 3-day $800K (-55%) Total $33.9M/Wk 5
10.) Tuesday (A24) 654 (+652) theaters, Fri $110K (=1011%), 3-day $286K (+1017%), Total $318K/Wk 2
FRIDAY PM: There’s not stopping the influx of cash at theaters coast to coast for Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 which is ending Friday at $60M, the second best opening day for an animated movie after the studio’s 2018 title Incredibles 2 at $71.2M. It’s also leaps and bounds ahead of the first day of last summer’s animated hit, Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse which did $51.8M. All of this is leading to the third best opening ever for an animated movie after Incredibles 2 ($182.6M) and last year’s Super Mario Bros Movie ($146.3M 3-day).
Not a surprise, Inside Out 2 gets a solid A CinemaScore, which is the same grade as the first 2015 movie. The overperformance, as we told you earlier today, comes from the massive walk-up business from Latino and Hispanic moviegoers who are repping 42% of the sequel’s audience ahead of 31% Caucasian, 10% Black and 10% Asian crowds.
Ahead of the weekend, social media analytics corp RelishMix saw nothing but sunshine for the Kelsey Mann directed animated title, reporting, “Convo on Inside Out 2 runs positive as commenters are enticed by the conceit of this sequel and the promise of new emotions, saying, ‘Kind of interesting for there to be antagonists in a Disney movie about emotions. Complex vs Core emotions,’ and ‘Anxiety is a fantastic villain. The baggage, being buds with envy and embarrassment.’ Many fans of the original 2015 film are stoked about the return of one of their favorite Pixar films, saying, ‘I’m so excited to see the best Pixar movie sequel!’ and ‘The emotions are back after 9 years. Let’s go!!!'”
Social media reach for Inside Out 2 across TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube stands at 556.4M which is ahead of Kung Fu Panda 4 (353.5M) and Trolls Bands Together (287M), but below Minions: The Rise of Gru (668.4M). Stranger Things actress Maya Hawke, who voices the new character of Anxiety, is leading the charge among the voiceover cast on social with a reach of 10M-plus.
One notable clip that racked up views on YouTube was the “Booth to Screen” of the voiceover cast:
FRIDAY AFTERNOON: If there’s been any doubt that Disney+ has cannibalized the box office specifically in regards to Pixar movies, well, you can throw that theory out the window. That’s because this weekend Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 is heading for the biggest opening of the year to date with $120M-$130M at 4,440 theaters. In fact, if the opening hits $150M (which is where rival studios see it), then it could be the second best stateside start for a Pixar movie after The Incredibles ($182.6M).
At least $56M is in the bank today including last night’s $13M. Sources tell me that there’s a huge turnout by Hispanic and Latino moviegoers in walk-ups, hence the big business.
In second, Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die is keeping up against the whale that is Inside Out 2, down only -50% in weekend 2 with $28M and a $7.5M Friday and a $107.2M running total by Sunday at 3,885 sites.
20th Century Studios/Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes refuses to leave the top five of the chart in its 6th weekend with $4.45M at 2,600 locations, -18%,, and a running cume of $157M.
Next is Alcon/Sony’s The Garfield Movie at 3,411 sites with a fourth weekend of $4.1M, -59% and running total of $77.6M.
Paramount’s IF in weekend 5 at 3,006 sites, is seeing a 5th weekend of $3.3M, -58%, and will cross the century mark on Sunday, Ryan Reynolds’ 11th headlining title to cross that mark.
FRIDAY AM: We got a hit on our hands as Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 clocked $13M from Thursday previews that began at 3 p.m., the best so far in 2024. beating Dune: Part Two‘s $12M. The current Rotten Tomatoes scores are a 93% Certified Fresh rating from critics and 95% from moviegoers, setting up the movie for a potential $100M+ opening weekend. The running overseas cume is $22.3M.
Look for Inside Out 2 to blow past its $135M global opening projection.
You can easily say that when it comes to Pixar brands, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Also, unlike 2022’s Lightyear, the sequel brought back most of the voice cast. Out of the gate, Inside Out 2 is 4½ stars with Thursday preview audiences on Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak, with 57% general audience, 23% parents and 21% kids under 12. Parents gave it five stars and kids 4½, the latter being girl-heavy at 52%, and parents being mom-heavy at 73%. Overall definite recommend is 72%. See, people and jaded Wall Street media? Moviegoing is still a lucrative pastime!
RELATED: 10 Most Anticipated Movies of Summer 2024 From ‘Inside Out 2’ to ‘Twisters’
Comps for Inside Out 2 are last year’s The Little Mermaid ($10.3M previews, $96M 3-day) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($17.4M previews, $120.7M 3-day), 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru ($10.8M, $107M 3-day) and 2019’s Toy Story 4 ($12M previews, $120.9M). The record previews for a Pixar movie belong to Incredibles 2 at $18.5M, which resulted in a $182.7M opening in 2018.
Inside Out 2‘s previews bury that of the 2015 original, which did $3.7M in previews that began at 7 p.m., which yielded a $90.4M opening.
Inside Out 2 is booked at 4,400 theaters with all the hormonal power of PLFs, Dbox, Dolby, Imax, etc.
In more good news for moviegoing, Sony’s Bad Boys franchise is crossing the $1 billion global threshold today. Thursday stateside take for Bad Boys: Ride or Die was $4.48M, bringing its running cume, and first week, to $79.24M at 3,885 theaters.
The rest of the week and Thursday’s box office happened as follows:
2. The Garfield Movie (Sony) 3,959 theaters, Thursday $890K (-24% from Wed), -24%, Wk $14.9M/Total $73.5M/Wk 3
3. IF (Par) 3,582 theaters Thur $711K (-28%) Wk $11.9M, Total $97.4M/Wk 4
4. The Watchers (NL) 3,351 theaters, Thur $610K (-8%), Wk $10M/Wk 1
5. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th/Dis) 3,155 theaters, Thur $615K (-2%), Wk $8.2M, $152.6M/Wk 5
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
