‘Inside Out 2’ $145M Opening, 3rd Best Ever Animated Film

Disney

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.

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