Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' soars at box office, grosses $295 million worldwide on its opening weekend

Pixar's "Inside Out 2" managed to dominate the box office, grossing $295 million worldwide during its opening weekend in movie theaters:

Specifically, reported Box Office Mojo, the film, released on June 14, managed to earn a total of $140 million in the international market, while the remaining $155 million were from Americans theaters.

'Inside Out 2' becomes the second highest-grossing animated film in history

The figure makes "Inside Out 2" the second highest-grossing animated feature film on opening weekend in history, second only to Pixar's "The Incredibles 2," which, with $182.7 million in its first weekend, continues to top the list.

It does take the honor of being the highest-grossing opening weekend in 2024, surpassing "Dune: Part 2," which managed to earn a total of $82.5 million at the national box office during its release. The feature film is also one of the only ones that managed to raise more than $100 million this year during its premiere, which had not occurred since "Barbie" in 2023, which earned Warner Bros. a total of $162 million.

A lifeline for the film industry?

The film's earnings exceeded the projections by Walt Disney Studios, Pixar's parent company. The company estimated that "Inside Out 2" would gross close to $90 million at the domestic box office during its premiere.

This figure was almost doubled, surprising Tony Chambers, director of theatrical distribution at Disney who said, in statements reported by the AP, that he thought the film could do "extremely well" but he never expected such success: "People go to the theaters for great movies. The reviews, the word of mouth just helped build this momentum … It’s becoming a bit of a phenomenon," he said.

The founder and owner of Box Office Theory, Shawn Robbins, was more cautious. The expert assured NBC News that, although the premiere had been very positive, theaters still faced a difficult year, encouraged by the lack of film premieres after the double strike that Hollywood experienced for much of last year: