SATURDAY AM: “It’s pacing like Barbie” beamed one rival studio marketing source about Disney/Pixar’s amazing opening weekend with Inside Out 2 which at $140M-$150M could wind up being the second highest opening for animated movie of all-time behind Pixar’s own Incredibles 2 ($182.6M) and ahead of Super Mario Bros Movie ($146.3M). Here’s how Inside Out 2 is akin to Barbie: If you back out the $13M Thursday previews out of the sequel’s $62M first day (the second highest ever for an animated movie), Friday did $49M which more than Barbie‘s first Friday of $48.2M sans Thursday previews. Wow.
Inside Out 2 will give Pixar the top three animated opening days of all-time behind Incredibles 2 ($71.2M) and ahead of Finding Dory ($54.7M).
Rivals see this sequel well above $150M, however, I hear presales are lower than yesterday, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t walk-up business, which is the sheer driver of business. Updated, Latino and Hispanic audiences rep 40% of moviegoers, followed by 31% Caucasian, 13% Black, 10% Asian, and 6% Native American/other. Another indicator of walk-up business is that Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak shows 62% of the audience purchasing their tickets on same day they watched it.
Global running cume is $110.8M so far for Inside Out 2.
Inside Out 2 is repping 70% of the entire box office weekend which should do around $214M for all movies. That’s 31% ahead of the same Father’s Day weekend a year ago when The Flash crashed, 30% ahead of the same frame in 2022, but also 57% ahead of Father’s Day weekend 2019 when Men in Black: International bombed.
PostTrak exits are still huge at 89% positive, 71% definite recommend with 63% women attending and 21% of the audience under 12, 32% between 13-17 (the largest demo), and 51% between 18-34. The sequel is playing best in the West, Mountain and Midwest with the AMC Dine-In Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida, the best location in the nation with $162K so far. Imax and PLFs are accounting for a quarter of the weekend’s ticket sales so far with 14% from 3D.
The chief reason why audiences went to see Inside Out 2 is because 46% of the crowd said it looked fun, while 34% of moviegoers are fans of the franchise. In a clear sign that Disney+ family subscribers will continue to come out to great movies, PostTrak noted that 52% of those watching Inside Out 2 are subs of the Mouse House service, while 44% have Hulu, 43% have Prime Video and 66% have Netflix. If a Disney+ subscriber were to wait and watching Inside Out 2 at home, their kids would experience immense FOMO for these event films won’t hit the OTT service for another 80-90 days, if not more.
Also with an excellent hold is the second frame of Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die which made $8.5M on Friday for what’s shaping up to be a $31.5M weekend, -44% for a running total of $110.7M by EOD Sunday. That second weekend hold isn’t far from the -45% second weekend ease of Bad Boys for Life. Fun Bad Boys trivia: the first movie back in 1995 posted the best second weekend hold of the franchise at -29%.
Keep in mind that summer moviegoing is in fall swing, for not just Bad Boys 4 is flying past the century mark, but Paramount’s IF as well.
1.) Inside Out 2 (Dis) 4,440 theaters, Fri $62M, 3-day $140M-$150M/Wk 1
2.) Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Sony) 3,885 theaters, Fri $8.5M (-60%), 3-day $31.5M (-44%), Total $110.7M/Wk 2
3.) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th/Dis) 2,600 (-555) theaters, Fri $1.3M (-10%) 3-day $5.4M (even), Total $158M/Wk 6
4.) Garfield Movie (Sony) 3,411 (-548) theaters, Fri $1.5M (-48%) 3-day $5.3M (-47%) Total $78.8M/Wk 4
Will become the highest grossing move in the franchise stateside besting 2004’s Garfield: The Movie which finaled at $75.3M.
5.) IF (Par) 3,006 (-576) theaters, Fri $1.07M (-54%), 3-day $3.6M (-54%) Total $101M/Wk 5
6.) Watchers (NL) 3,351 theaters, Fri $1.1M (-62%) 3-day $3.4M (-51%), Total $13.4M/Wk 2
7.) Furiosa (WB) 1,874 (-1110) theaters, Fri $625K (-48%) 3-day $2.4M (-42%) Total $63.1M/Wk 4
8.) The Fall Guy (Uni) 1,663 (-747) theaters, Fri $430K (-48%) 3-day $1.45M (-44%), Total $87.8M/Wk 7
9.) Strangers – Part 1 (LG) 1,027 (-989) Fri $260K (-56%) 3-day $800K (-55%) Total $33.9M/Wk 5
10.) Tuesday (A24) 654 (+652) theaters, Fri $110K (=1011%), 3-day $286K (+1017%), Total $318K/Wk 2
‘Inside Out 2’
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.
20th Century Studios/Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes refuses to leave the top five of the chart in its 6th weekend with $4.45M at 2,600 locations, -18%,, and a running cume of $157M.
Next is Alcon/Sony’s The Garfield Movie at 3,411 sites with a fourth weekend of $4.1M, -59% and running total of $77.6M.
Paramount’s IF in weekend 5 at 3,006 sites, is seeing a 5th weekend of $3.3M, -58%, and will cross the century mark on Sunday, Ryan Reynolds’ 11th headlining title to cross that mark.
FRIDAY AM: We got a hit on our hands as Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 clocked $13M from Thursday previews that began at 3 p.m., the best so far in 2024. beating Dune: Part Two‘s $12M. The current Rotten Tomatoes scores are a 93% Certified Fresh rating from critics and 95% from moviegoers, setting up the movie for a potential $100M+ opening weekend. The running overseas cume is $22.3M.
Look for Inside Out 2 to blow past its $135M global opening projection.
You can easily say that when it comes to Pixar brands, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Also, unlike 2022’s Lightyear, the sequel brought back most of the voice cast. Out of the gate, Inside Out 2 is 4½ stars with Thursday preview audiences on Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak, with 57% general audience, 23% parents and 21% kids under 12. Parents gave it five stars and kids 4½, the latter being girl-heavy at 52%, and parents being mom-heavy at 73%. Overall definite recommend is 72%. See, people and jaded Wall Street media? Moviegoing is still a lucrative pastime!
RELATED: 10 Most Anticipated Movies of Summer 2024 From ‘Inside Out 2’ to ‘Twisters’
Comps for Inside Out 2 are last year’s The Little Mermaid ($10.3M previews, $96M 3-day) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($17.4M previews, $120.7M 3-day), 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru ($10.8M, $107M 3-day) and 2019’s Toy Story 4 ($12M previews, $120.9M). The record previews for a Pixar movie belong to Incredibles 2 at $18.5M, which resulted in a $182.7M opening in 2018.
Inside Out 2‘s previews bury that of the 2015 original, which did $3.7M in previews that began at 7 p.m., which yielded a $90.4M opening.
Inside Out 2 is booked at 4,400 theaters with all the hormonal power of PLFs, Dbox, Dolby, Imax, etc.
In more good news for moviegoing, Sony’s Bad Boys franchise is crossing the $1 billion global threshold today. Thursday stateside take for Bad Boys: Ride or Die was $4.48M, bringing its running cume, and first week, to $79.24M at 3,885 theaters.
The rest of the week and Thursday’s box office happened as follows:
2. The Garfield Movie (Sony) 3,959 theaters, Thursday $890K (-24% from Wed), -24%, Wk $14.9M/Total $73.5M/Wk 3
3. IF (Par) 3,582 theaters Thur $711K (-28%) Wk $11.9M, Total $97.4M/Wk 4
4. The Watchers (NL) 3,351 theaters, Thur $610K (-8%), Wk $10M/Wk 1
5. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th/Dis) 3,155 theaters, Thur $615K (-2%), Wk $8.2M, $152.6M/Wk 5