Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 shattered expectations with a colossal $154 million opening in the U.S. and a jaw-dropping $300 million globally.
This opening number is so massive, that it’s just silly. Not only is this almost DOUBLE what the industry was tracking pre-release (this was only estimated to open with $85 million), but it’s also almost DOUBLE Dune 2’s opening weekend ($82 million), the previous highest opening of the year.
The strength of this sequel shows the unwavering appeal of cherished Pixar franchises, or at least their Part-2 entries (ala Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo 2 and Incredibles 2).
Here’s a breakdown of why Inside Out 2 triumphed so spectacularly at the box office.
REASON #1: A PROVEN FRANCHISE, WITH MULTI GENERATIONAL APPEAL
Inside Out 2 taps into a beloved Pixar legacy that still resonates across generations. Younger moviegoers clearly viewed Inside Out, released in June of 2015, as a Disney-specific generational touchtone.
It’s pretty similar to how the earlier generation viewed Finding Nemo in 2003, or how the generation before that viewed The Lion King or Toy Story in 1994/1995.
Each of these classic animated films produced generations upon generations of fans who were genuinely interested in seeing a sequel or continuation of the story.
And that’s reflected in how OLDER Inside Out 2’s audience is now, with Inside Out 2’s audience now consisting of 46% families, compared to 71% for the first film.
This opening also shows: Audiences say time and time again they want original films, yet they’re resistant to try anything new.
In just a single weekend, Inside Out 2 passed the ENTIRE domestic gross of Pixar’s own Elemental, as well as the WORLDWIDE total of Disney’s Wish, both from last year.
Were they a compelling story? Did they seem generic? Maybe they just didn’t offer enough to go to the theaters vs. the lure of a tried and true concept.
Hopefully this doesn’t teach the wrong lessons to Bob Iger, Pete Doctor and the other Disney Animation executives, in producing the types of unnecessary franchise sequels which audiences likely won’t want to see. (Looking at you, Finding Nemo 3 [will they swim to the Atlantic now?] and Toy Story 5….[does Woody get Bo pregnant?])
REASON #2: UNTAPPED AUDIENCE DEMAND (Women and Gen Z and BIPOC)
Perhaps some part of the success of Inside Out 2 is because there’s nothing out there for certain audience segments (e.g. Women, Gen Z and BIPOC).
For instance, 63% of the audience for Inside Out 2 were women (vs. 56% for the last movie), which speaks to the significant lack of options for female moviegoers, at least since Barbie last July (save for smaller successes like Anyone But You, Mean Girls and Challengers).
Also, 65% of Inside Out 2‘s audience is under the age of 25.
This is another case, like Minions: The Rise of Gru and Five Nights At Freddy’s, of Gen Z and younger moviegoers responding to getting a franchise for them, instead of getting their parents/older generations’ hand-me-downs. I’m looking at you Indiana Jones 5 and The Flash in summer 2023.
Furthermore, Inside Out 2’s broad multicultural appeal (Latino and Hispanic audiences represented 36% of moviegoers (19% of the population), followed by 33% Caucasian, 14% Black, 11% Asian, and 6% Native American/ other) underscores the film’s universal themes.
It will be interesting to see if Disney/Pixar can repeat this broad demographic appeal for their upcoming films.
HOW MUCH MONEY COULD INSIDE OUT 2 EVENTUALLY END WITH?
This opening is a phenomenal start, and with a 100-day theatrical window, Inside Out 2 should have legs throughout the rest of the summer.
With positive reviews (92% on Rotten Tomatoes) and strong word of mouth (including an A from CinemaScore), I would expect Inside Out 2 (which has a $200 million budget) to leg out to $650-700 million in the U.S., and likely $1.5+ billion worldwide. Fantastic!
Depending on how well Deadpool does, this might make Inside Out 2 the biggest movie of the year.
The only other family-friendly competition this summer is Despicable Me 4, which is expected to open two-and-a-half weeks from now with $100+ million over its 5-day weekend.
Despicable Me 4 shouldn’t be a problem, as historically Pixar and Illumination films have been able to coexist for years now (Inside Out and Minions in summer 2015, Finding Dory and The Secret Life Of Pets in Summer 2016, The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Toy Story 4 in 2019).
After all, Pixar movies tend to play to older adults, while Illumination films play more to parents with much younger kids.
WHAT THIS SUCCESS MEANS FOR DISNEY ANIMATION’S FUTURE ??!??
Inside Out 2‘s performance challenges the prevailing narrative that Disney+ has cannibalized theater attendance for Pixar films, suggesting instead that compelling content can still draw massive crowds.
This weekend’s success story also highlights the continuing trend where audiences prefer franchise films over new IPs, a factor studios will have to consider in future content development.
We’ll have to see how Pixar’s next two films, (see below) which are original, do before their next sequel (Toy Story 5) comes out. The world clearly wanted Inside Out 2, but do they REALLY want Toy Story 5?
Pixar’s next original film, Elio, is currently going head to head with the How to Train Your Dragon live action remake next June. And Pixar will have ANOTHER original film set for March 2026, the same time as WB’s animated Cat in the Hat film.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Pixar’s next 2 original films struggle comparatively out of the gate at the box office.
However, I would chalk in Disney’s next animated film Moana 2, which comes out this Thanksgiving, as another potentially huge blockbuster. The first Moana from 2016 has consistently earned spectacular streaming numbers since its release on Disney+, so I’m expecting this sequel to be a big hit.
(Again – Audience’s love comforting IP – until they don’t).
The only reason I would even slightly be bearish is the fact that Moana 2 began its life as a 3 episode Disney+ show, so the question remains how this new story works as a film. But if it still plays well with audiences, that’s all irrelevant.
At the end of the day, Disney might end up with 4 of the biggest movies of the year with Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King. Wow!!
Makes me wish I bought Disney stock a year ago.
HOW OTHER MOVIES ARE PERFORMING AT THE BOX OFFICE: BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE HOLDS STRONG
In other good news, the overall weekend box office will tower over the same weekend in 2023 and 2019, with a cumulative total of $217 million over Fathers Day weekend, the first $200+ million weekend since Barbenheimer happened last July.
Yes, 71% of the weekend box office this weekend is thanks to Inside Out 2, but Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die also performed great and is showing some very strong legs.
Bad Boys 4 earned another $33.8 million over Fathers Day weekend (-40% from last weekend), a very good drop for an R-rated action movie. For context, Bad Boys 3 fell -46% in its second weekend.
It helps that Bad Boys 4 is the only action-comedy playing in theaters right now, until Twisters and Deadpool & Wolverine in late July.
With this strong pace ($113 million after just 10 days) and great word of mouth, the film is now on track to hit $200+ million domestically and $375-400+ million worldwide, a huge hit on a $100 million budget.
An obvious lesson here: studios should start calling Will Smith again for new movies!
20th Century Studios’ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes earned $5.53 million on its sixth weekend. That’s a +2% increase from last weekend, which is incredibly rare thing to see!
I would credit the weekend-to-weekend increase to the fact that Sunday was Fathers Day, and Disney paired Inside Out 2 and Apes together for drive-in theaters.
With a domestic total so far of $158 million, the film is expected to finish with $170-175 million in the U.S. and $390-400 million worldwide, a decent return for a blockbuster that cost $165 million.
Will audiences return for the next Planet Of The Apes?
Perhaps next time: have a more compelling movie-star in the cast? A story hook that intrigues even non-Ape fans?
Sony’s The Garfield Movie will earn $4.7 million (-53%) on its fourth weekend for a $75 million domestic total, just over/under the $75.3 million domestic total of Bill Murray’s Garfield movie in 2004.
It’s expected to end worldwide with $240-250 million, which makes this a solid hit on a $60 million budget.
Paramount’s IF passed $100 million domestically over the weekend, a significant achievement for an entirely original live-action/animated family-targeted fantasy. The Ryan Reynolds-starring family dramedy earned $3.6 million in its fifth weekend (-54%), and is expected to end with $200-220 million worldwide.
That sadly still won’t be enough for IF to break even theatrically (IF’s budget was $110 million), despite good word of mouth and legs.
This goes to show how hard it is for original non-IP films to sell tickets nowadays. Remember filmmakers, you have to budget your films accordingly!
Next weekend comes the Focus Features’ release of The Bikeriders, a well-reviewed crime drama (82% on Rotten Tomatoes) starring Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, as members of a motorcycle club in 1960s Illinois. The film cost $40 million.
The film is only expected to open with around $10 million next weekend, but like all Focus Features films, a majority of their revenue comes from PVOD and digital sales. So even if The Bikeriders underperforms, it may still turn a profit after it hits digital.
And that’s it for the weekend box office. What films are you still interested in seeing or hearing about? I’m looking forward to writing again in this column soon.
Zan Hollywood Box Office - Analysis Site 
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