The record-breaking Disney-Pixar animated film “Inside Out 2” continued its hot streak at the box office this week, overtaking the worldwide gross of its predecessor as it eyes another milestone—the $1 billion mark—possibly becoming the fastest animated film to reach ten digits.
“Inside Out 2” surpassed $863 million in worldwide gross as of Thursday, overtaking the $858 million that the original “Inside Out” grossed in 2015, Deadline and Variety reported. The sequel surpassed the original film just 16 days after its release, quickly outgrossing the more than three-month-long theatrical run of “Inside Out,” which played in theaters all summer nine years ago. “Inside Out 2” is expected to surpass $900 million in total gross once Friday’s box office numbers are available, Deadline reported.
Whether “Inside Out 2” can clear the billion-dollar mark this weekend remains to be seen. Deadline reported the film is expected to reach at least $1 billion in total worldwide gross and could do so as early as this Sunday, which would make it the fastest-ever animated film to reach the milestone.
“Inside Out 2” has already smashed a host of records throughout its two-week box office run, including its better-than-expected opening weekend, which easily surpassed “Dune: Part Two” to have the biggest opening of 2024 so far. “Inside Out 2” grossed a huge $155 million in its domestic opening, much higher than projections of about $90 million, and grossed another $140 million internationally. It had the second-best domestic opening for an animated film after “The Incredibles 2” and the best opening for an animated film worldwide, surpassing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” “Inside Out 2” was also the first movie to open with more than $100 million since last year’s biggest hit, “Barbie,” a sign of health for theaters in a year that has been especially rough. The film grossed another $100 million domestically in its second weekend, the best second weekend for an animated movie and the seventh-best for any movie ever, even surpassing the second weekends of “Barbie” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
“Inside Out 2” grossed $11.2 million in domestic theaters on Thursday, beating the previews for newly released films “A Quiet Place: Day One” and “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1.” The former, a prequel film set in the “Quiet Place” universe and the third overall in the horror franchise, surpassed Deadline’s projections to gross $6.8 million on Thursday, potentially setting it up for an opening weekend of more than $50 million. But “Horizon” fell below expectations, grossing just $800,000 from Thursday previews on its way to a lackluster opening weekend, though Deadline noted the likely crowd for “Horizon” may not rush out to see the film on its first day.
Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” has reached $863.1M worldwide through Thursday, overtaking the original film’s lifetime of $859M global. The sequel got there in just 16 days of release and already is the No. 19 animated film ever worldwide. Earlier this week, “Inside Out 2” cracked the all-time domestic animated Top 10 and is now No. 9 on that chart with $411.8M, surpassing 2013’s “Frozen.” The international box office total through Thursday is $451.3M after adding $16.6M in 45 offshore markets Thursday.
What’s extra impressive about “Inside Out 2” exceeding the 2015 original film’s full global run in such a short window is that the first movie’s total includes Russia, where Hollywood titles have not been releasing since early 2022. “Inside Out” the first also has Japan in its cume, whereas that market doesn’t get the sequel until August 1.
At this rate, “Inside Out 2” will shoot past $900M worldwide once Friday’s numbers are tallied. There is a path for the blockbuster to cross the $1B mark with Sunday’s figures included, which would make it the fastest animated movie ever to the milestone.
In new overseas markets, Thursday added New Zealand, where “Inside Out 2” opened at No. 1 and posted the third-biggest animated launch day of all time, the best-ever for Pixar and the top animated debut day ever outside of holidays. A strong weekend is expected.
The Top 10 overseas markets through Thursday are: Mexico ($71.1M), UK ($32.9M), Korea ($32.2M), Brazil ($28M), Italy ($26.3M), Germany ($20.1M), Spain ($20M), Argentina ($17M), France ($17M) and China ($15.2M).
“Inside Out 2” continues to dominate the box office, shattering records as it injects a largely absent feeling of joy into a movie industry that’s been in a prolonged funk. The Disney and Pixar sequel about the emotional life of a teenage girl has earned $863.1 million globally to overtake the lifetime gross of its predecessor, 2015’s “Inside Out’s” $859 million worldwide haul. It now ranks as the 19th highest-grossing animated film in history on a global basis after 16 days of release, and it should keep climbing up the chart. At its current clip, “Inside Out 2” seems poised to cross the $1 billion mark, becoming the first film of 2024 to reach those lofty heights.
Domestically, “Inside Out 2” has earned $411.8 million to overtake 2013’s “Frozen’s” gross of $401 million. That makes it the ninth highest-grossing animated film of all-time on a domestic basis.
What makes “Inside Out 2’s” performance so notable is that it comes as the global box office has shrunk considerably. Geopolitical tensions with China have made Hollywood movies less popular in the country, while Russia is largely off limits to studio movies because of the war in Ukraine. The domestic box office has also struggled to rebound from COVID, with ticket sales lagging behind 2023’s numbers. The writers and actors strikes halted production and delayed the release of many movies, leaving theaters with fewer films to show.
Heading into the weekend, “Inside Out 2” will get fresh challengers in the form of Paramount’s “A Quiet Place: Day One” and “Horizon,” a big-budget Western from Kevin Costner that Warner Bros. is distributing.
Source: Deadline, Variety
