“Biggest opening of 2024”: Inside Out 2 Shatters Dune 2 and Frozen 2’s Record With a $295 Million Box Office Opening
Inside Out 2, the latest release from Pixar Studios, has won over audiences around the world, showing once again how a simple concept of a young girl’s journey into adolescence can offer a great experience. Kelsey Mann directed the movie, where he has mixed satire, emotions, and humor, which can be related to viewers of all ages.
Inside Out 2 is the sequel to Inside Out, released in 2015, that explored the life of Riley, and this time viewers get to see more of her emotions they hadn’t seen before because Riley is now a teenager. The film has successfully depicted Riley’s personified emotions, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust, along with the new additions of Envy, Embarrassment, Ennui, and Anxiety.
Inside Out 2 Shatters Box-Office Records
Engaging storytelling and Pixar’s reputation as the master of animated movies have helped Inside Out 2 become a blockbuster hit that broke more records at the box office during the opening weekend.
Inside Out 2‘s ticket sales have been extraordinary so far. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film earned $155 million in domestic circuits over the weekend, where it was expected to earn about $90 million. The movie made $140 million overseas, which makes it a total of $295 million globally in the opening weekend. Inside Out 2 also has the second-biggest opening of all time for an animated movie, only behind Incredibles 2.
‘INSIDE OUT 2’ debuts to a $295M world box office opening
▪️ $155M Domestic
▪️ Biggest opening of 2024
▪️ Second biggest animated opening of ever behind Incredibles 2 ($182.7M)▪️ $140M International
▪️ Biggest animated International opening ever surpassing Frozen 2 ($135M) pic.twitter.com/uh1xsjvGO6— ScreenTime (@screentime) June 16, 2024
The movie has also overtaken Dune: Part Two‘s global opening weekend collection of $182.5 million (according to Deadline) and Frozen 2‘s overseas opening weekend collection of $135 million (according to Variety). Inside Out 2 has also surpassed other animated movies like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Finding Dory (according to The Hollywood Reporter).
The critics’ reception of the movie is also outstanding. With a Rotten Tomatoes critic rating of 93% and an audience rating of 96%, Inside Out 2 is the best of all Pixar’s creations.
Kelsey Mann’s direction and a talented voice cast, which includes Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Paul Walter Hauser, and Yvette Nicole Brown, are also being widely praised for bringing life to the characters.
Inside Out 2‘s success is also special due to the recent strikes that have interrupted the movie business, causing movie delays and decreasing audience interest in going to theaters. The film’s popularity and the power of the story have successfully drawn audiences back to theaters.
Will There Be Inside Out 3?
Since Inside Out 2 has received great reception, talks about the third part of the franchise have already started. Director Kelsey Mann seems very happy with the audience’s reaction to the sequel and has dropped subtle hints about some ideas that could be used for a third installment.
In an interview with USA Today, Mann talked about the special factor of Inside Out 2 that has made viewers interested in the life of Riley. He said,
Everybody’s like, ‘What age is she? I can’t wait to hear where she is in her life’. [We have] a whole stockpile of ideas. They’re too good, they’re too funny, they’re too interesting for them not to be tapped into. So I have no idea where the future will go, (but) it should continue because I think it’s something that the audience really wants.
Conceptually, Inside Out can go for multiple sequels as it is based on Riley, who undergoes the changes of life stages, and every stage can be a new movie. Every challenge and discovery Riley faces in her life breeds a new ground of storytelling that can be related to audiences of any age.
Mann also sees potential in focusing on Riley’s college experiences or elaborating on other opportunities during high school. Moreover, the ending of the movie also leaves possibilities for Riley’s new developments in Sense of Self.
However, as far as the success of Inside Out 2 is concerned, in terms of box office collections and the reception it received from critics and audiences, it has clearly established Pixar as a heavyweight in the animation industry.
Inside Out 2 was released on June 14, 2024, and is running in theaters now.
