“Inside Out” To Become Pixar’s First 2nd Place Opener
Despite breaking their critically acclaimed streak with Cars 2 in 2011, there’s been one constant for Pixar. Always opening number one at the box office. Sadly by Sunday, this two-decade run could end with Inside Out.
No one could have predicted Jurassic World to stomp all over The Avengers’ $207 milllion opening weekend record a week ago. But before you start placing blame on this surge of dino-domination, there’s a silver lining here.
Inside Out will be gunning for a different record – biggest non-number 1 debut ever. That record, held by The Day After Tomorrow ($68.7 million) for over 11 years, is perfectly feasible to break. Disney’s animated juggernaut, Frozen almost took down the record with its $67.4 million haul in late 2013.
Numbers are definitely on Inside Out’s side. Every Pixar film since 2008 has cracked $60 million or more. With the exception of Ratatouille’s underwhelming $47.0 million debut, this has been a standard stretching back to Monsters, Inc. in 2001.
2015 hasn’t offered many animated films so far. The main exception being DreamWorks Animation’s Home back in March. Inside Out has arrived at the perfect time for families and will be the go-to film before Minions debuts on July 10th. Going inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl is certainly new ground for Pixar, but so were the worlds of talking toys and forgetful fish.
Universal acclaim will also rally audiences to Inside Out, especially after Cars 2, Brave and Monsters University fells short with critics.
Audiences will be joining Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear Thursday night in 2D and 3D early engagements starting at 7 p.m. By Sunday, Inside Out could wind up close to $70 million.
Box Office Projections
1. Jurassic World (Universal) – $105.8 million (1)
2. Inside Out (Buena Vista) – $70.1 million (NR)
3. Spy (20th Century Fox) – $8.5 million (2)
4. San Andreas (Warner Bros.) – $4.9 million (3)
5. Dope (Open Road Films) – $3.7 million (5)
