Pixar's Inside Out 2 has put the studio back on the right track with a massive $155 million opening weekend in North America. Not only has this helped restore Pixar's reputation after a rough few years courtesy of the pandemic, but it comes at a time when theaters are desperate for a massive box office hit.
To put into context just how big this opening is, Inside Out 2 easily has topped the year's previous biggest debuts: Dune: Part Two ($82.5 million) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($80 million) by over $70 million.
It's also the first movie since last July's Barbie to open north of $100 million. However, there's a strong likelihood that Pixar will prioritise sequels moving forward instead of the original stories which put them on the map (Toy Story 5 is already in development).
Overseas, Inside Out 2 opened to $140 million from 38 international markets, giving the movie a massive $295 million worldwide debut. Is a $1 billion total gross possible? The sky may be the limit for this one in the weeks ahead.
Recently, Pixar's Chief Creative Officer Peter Docter acknowledged, "If this doesn't do well at the theater, I think it just means we're going to have to think even more radically about how we run our business."
It's not just Pixar the movie was crucial for either. When we spoke to executive producer Al Jean about the chances of a sequel to The Simpsons Movie, he said, "There’s talk and I think something will happen. It’s tough for the entire animation business right now to know what the best path is. I think we want to see how the animated films do this summer."
"There are a couple of great ones coming out and, I’m all for animation, so I’m hoping the genre comes back in full theatrically. It’s bigger than The Simpsons; it’s a question for the whole genre."
Disney and Pixar's Inside Out 2 returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as Headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions.
Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment show up.
The voice cast includes Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Paul Walter Hauser and Yvette Nicole Brown.
Inside Out 2 is directed by Kelsey Mann from a screenplay by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein and story by Mann and LeFauve, and is now playing in theaters.