‘Inside Out 2’ Hits $155 Million in U.S. for Year’s Biggest Opening Weekend

Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” generated an estimated $155 million in U.S. sales in its opening weekend, the strongest debut for a film this year and a jolt for the summer box office.

The sequel to the Oscar-winning 2015 hit far exceeded expectations, drawing moviegoers with a cluster of new, animated emotions and the travails of growing up. The strong showing marks a box-office comeback for the Disney unit. It was the second-biggest domestic opening weekend in Pixar’s history and the second-strongest domestic animated-film opening ever, according to Comscore, in both instances behind “Incredibles 2,” which took in $182.7 million in its 2018 opening.

“Inside Out 2” grossed an estimated $140 million over the weekend internationally, giving it an estimated $295 million in global ticket sales.

The film centers on 13-year old Riley, who grapples with new, unpleasant feelings like Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment that rival emotions that audiences met in the original film such as Joy, Fear and Anger.

The robust opening for the Pixar sequel comes a week after “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” notched its own strong debut, signs that new iterations of beloved movies can draw sizable audiences. Many of Hollywood’s major studios are delivering sequels this year, hoping familiar characters and storylines will resonate with viewers.

While Pixar, the studio behind “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E,” has long been one of the most “bulletproof brands in the business,” it hit a rough patch in recent years, said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst. Strong opening-weekend ticket sales for “Inside Out 2” are “huge” for the studio, he said.

Last year’s “Elemental” got off to a tough start at the box office but gradually drew bigger crowds and was a hit on the Disney+ streaming service. “Lightyear,” the origin story of Buzz Lightyear released in 2022, was the first Pixar film to be shown in theaters in more than two years but fell short of expectations. Disney this year brought to theaters three Pixar films that had initially been released straight to Disney+ during the pandemic: “Turning Red,” “Soul” and “Luca.”

The domestic box office from January to June 16 is down 24% from the same time last year. While there were four films that had grossed $100 million or more in their opening weekends by this time last year, only “Inside Out 2” has cracked that threshold in 2024, according to Comscore.

“We’re trying to claw our way out of a deficit. We’re not going to get out of this overnight,” said Dergarabedian. Last year’s Hollywood strikes and resulting changes to release schedules have contributed to this year’s sluggishness, he said.

“Inside Out 2”’s opening weekend haul handily propels it ahead of “Dune: Part Two,” distributed by Warner Bros, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros., and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” from 20th Century Studios.

Its domestic gross far exceeded the $90 million that box-office trackers expected.

The movie debuted at an opportune time: School is ending for the summer for many kids, and there’s been a dearth of family movies in theaters, other than “The Garfield Movie” released in late May. “Kids don’t care if the box office is up or down. They want to be entertained. They just want to have fun,“ Dergarabedian said.

Write to Sarah Krouse at [email protected] and Ginger Adams Otis at [email protected]