The 2024 box office has been a mess, but Inside Out 2 is poised to dethrone Dune 2 and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Its box office projection, if true, will make it the biggest domestic opening of the year.
Variety is reporting that Pixar's Inside Out 2 is projected to make between $80 and $90 million domestically during its opening weekend. If that remains true, that will be the biggest box office opening of the year. Dune 2 and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire previously made $82.5 million and $80 million, respectively.
At the worldwide box office, Dune 2 still remains the highest-grossing film with over $710 million. Godzilla x Kong is behind it with over $567 million to its name.
If the film lands at the top end of the projection, it will have a chance to beat out its predecessor. 2015's Inside Out made over $90.4 million domestically during its opening weekend. The film did have somewhat of a boost after premiering at that year's Cannes Film Festival.
Inside Out 2 is the only new wide release coming this weekend. Bad Boys: Ride or Die topped the chart last weekend after surprising everyone and grossing over $56.5 million.
As for its specific demographic, the Pixar film should be in the clear. The Garfield Movie will be in its third weekend and has made over $69.7 million domestically and $179.5 million worldwide.
Pixar's recent box office woes
Inside Out 2 is very important for Pixar. Their last two theatrical releases have disappointed at the box office. Lightyear, a spin-off of the popular Toy Story series, bombed after making just $226 million worldwide.
Last year's Elemental stumbled out of the gate, opening to just $29.6 million domestically. Luckily, the film was able to have legs, particularly overseas. The film made over $342 million internationally and legged out to a worldwide total of $496 million.
While impressive, the two films remain some of the lowest-grossing Pixar films (domestically). Onward still remains the lowest, but it opened in March 2020 right before the pandemic.
Other recent Pixar films such as Luca, Soul, and Turning Red didn't get proper theatrical releases. The studio did put them in theaters temporarily in early 2024.
So, it's up to Inside Out 2 to save the studio. Reportedly, the ticket pre-sales have topped every Pixar film since 2019's Toy Story 4. Another fellow sequel, Toy Story 4 is the last major hit from the studio. It made over $1 billion in 2019, a year that saw Disney reign supreme over the box office.
What is Inside Out 2 about?
The upcoming Inside Out 2 picks up with Riley (Kensington Tallman) as a teenager. Those years are filled with new obstacles such as fitting in and making the varsity hockey team. As she attends a hockey camp, Riley is torn between impressing the varsity team and staying true to her best friends.
Joy (Amy Poehler) is still leading the charge inside of her mind. With the help of Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira), the emotions have it down to a science.
Once puberty hits, everything is shaken up. New emotions, Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) are introduced. While they initially seem to be on the OG emotions' side, things quickly escalate.
Kelsey Mann takes over from Pete Docter to direct the film in her directorial debut. Meg LeFauve returned to co-write the script, this time with Dave Holstein.
Inside Out 2 will be released on June 14.
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