‘Inside Out 2’ Hits a Billion at the Global Box Office

How has ‘Inside Out 2’ performed at the box office?

(L to R) Envy (voice of Ayo Edebiri), Anxiety (voice of Maya Hawke), Disgust (voice of Liza Lapira), Anger (voice of Lewis Black), Fear (voice of Tony Hale) and Sadness (voice of Phyllis Smith). Directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen, ‘Inside Out 2’ releases only in theaters June 14, 2024. © 2024 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The new Pixar sequel smashed expectations (Disney was projecting closer to $90 million), with $155 million in its first weekend, the highest opening since ‘Barbie’ last summer (Greta Gerwig’s movie opened to $162 million).

Without adjusting for inflation, that marks the second-highest domestic opening for an animated movie (behind the company’s ‘Incredibles 2’ in 2018) and put it far beyond the first ‘Inside Out’, which opened to $90 million.

Garnering good scores from critics and audiences, the new movie also did well overseas, taking in $140 million, enough to surpass ‘Frozen II’ ($135 million and yes, another Disney effort) as the biggest overseas animated opening of all time. And talking of the ‘Frozen’ sequel, ‘Inside Out 2’ has also surpassed it as the fastest animated movie to hit the billion mark.

It has also overtaken ‘Dune: Part Two’ as the biggest-grossing release of 2024.

Related Article: Disney/Pixar’s ‘Inside Out 2’ a Smash Hit at the Box Office

What’s the story of ‘Inside Out 2’?

In Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Joy (voice of Amy Poehler), Sadness (voice of Phyllis Smith), Anger (voice of Lewis Black), Fear (voice of Tony Hale) and Disgust (voice of Liza Lapira) are awakened to an alarming reality: everything is changing now that Riley is 13. Directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen, ‘Inside Out 2’ releases only in theaters Summer 2024. © 2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The movie follows up from the original by revisiting the emotions in Riley’s (Kensington Tallman) head. We’re back with Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale, replacing Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black) and Disgust (Liza Lapira, replacing Mindy Kaling), who have gotten into a good groove guiding and reacting to the life of their tween charge.

But they’re rudely awakened one night by the Puberty alarm, and even more disturbed by a work crew arriving to demolish the control center, preparing to rebuild it to accommodate some new emotions, including Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Envy (Ayo Edebiri) and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos).

Soon, the new emotions are taking over running Riley’s life as she deals with new challenges and concerns, while the original crew are left bottled up in the back of her mind. Can they make their way back to figure out how to balance things out?

Where next for the summer movie season?

‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.

This past weekend also saw prequel ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ open strong. While it didn’t dethrone the Pixar behemoth, it still took in $53 million domestically and $98 million globally in its box office debut.

‘Despicable Me 4’ lands on the key Independence Day holiday this year and given the reliable cash-earning power of that animated franchise, all eyes are on that to finally replace ‘Inside Out 2’ atop the domestic box office chart.

There is also ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’, which has been tracking very strong and should open well.

Disney and Pixar’s ‘Inside Out 2’ returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley, where Emotions like Embarrassment (voice of Paul Walter Hauser) take turns driving—or throwing themselves upon—the console as Riley experiences all the feelings. Directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen, ‘Inside Out 2’ releases only in theaters June 14, 2024. © 2024 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Inside Out 2:’

Buy Pixar Movies on Amazon