Inside Out 2 scores biggest opening weekend of 2024
Pixar's got its first bona fide hit in years, as Inside Out 2 vies for placement as one of the best animated openers of all time
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Say what you like about Pixar’s (admittedly!) mercenary embrace of the concept of sequels: They do make the ducats flow. Variety reports today that the studio’s latest return to the well, Inside Out 2, is on track for the biggest opening weekend of 2024 to date, and will likely become the first Hollywood movie to crack the “$100 million opening weekend” mark in domestic markets since Barbie stormed into theaters 11 months ago. Figures are still a little fuzzy, but the film, directed by first-time director Kelsey Mann, picked up $62 million in Friday and preview screenings alone, so: A lot. (THR pegs it at somewhere in the neighborhood of $140 million on the low end, likely to make it Pixar’s second-best domestic opening of all time, after The Incredibles 2.)
That’s good news for Pixar—if not for the company’s continued efforts to produce non-sequel films, the last several of which posted dismal opening weekends by comparison. (Although in some cases, like last year’s Elemental, an extremely strong international presence made the situation a bit less dire down the line.) It’s undeniably the first really serious, out-the-gates win for Pixar since the pre-pandemic days of Toy Story 4—which, again, it’s probably going to beat, at least in its opening weekend, a major rarity when comparing the for the pre- and post-quarantine box office. (Meanwhile, it doesn’t hurt that Inside Out 2 has gotten strong reviews to go with the influx of cash. Although given how some of the studio’s recent films have also gotten glowing critiques—not you, Lightyear—accompanied by meager turnouts—yes, you, Lightyear—that probably matters a bit less right now than the cash.)
Everybody else is playing catch-up this weekend, albeit a slightly more vigorous game than has been the 2024 norm: Second place goes to Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, which will pick up another $31 million this weekend, bringing its two-week totals up near the $100 million mark. Third place will go to Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes, now in its sixth week in theaters, as Disney explores the revolutionary idea that if you make it easy for people to go see a movie across a decent span of time, they will. Garfield came in fourth, presumably spurred on by the key demographic of parents who don’t like their children enough to take them to see Inside Out 2.