Box Office Report: Outside In

Well, we have our big family movie of the Summer. Hollywood can rest a little easier after a few months of wondering if the box office was DOA this year. Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 had a gargantuan opening, one far bigger than even its studio expected. It made $155 million domestically and $295 million worldwide. That’s the second biggest opening for an animated film, putting it behind another Pixar movie, Incredibles 2. It’s also the biggest opening weekend of 2024 so far. To put it in contrast, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has made $157.8 million in six weeks.

Disney noted plans to double down on sequels and prequels to its biggest titles, prioritizing them over original fare like Luca and Turning Red. It was disheartening to hear for obvious reasons. But you look at those numbers and you get why they’re doing it. We hear so many complaints about Hollywood only making the same stuff over and over, but then it makes way more money than most of the original stuff. It’s a vicious cycle. At least Inside Out earned good reviews and wasn’t viewed as a shameless cash-in by audiences or critics. According to Deadline, this one could easily exceed $500m+ domestically by the end of its run. Dune: Part Two has competition for the biggest film of 2024.

Things are also going well for Bad Boys: Ride or Die. In its second week of release, it managed to cross $112.2 million domestically. It’s a strong performance that holds on strong from its from its opening week, and its $214 million worldwide gross so far gives Sony a safe hit.

In limited release news: Treasure, a drama starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry, made $243,757 from 650 theatres. Firebrand, a historical drama about Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, earned $220,610 from 442 locations. Ghostlight, a romantic drama about a community theatre’s production of Romeo & Juliet, brought in $38,300 from three cinemas.

This coming week sees the release of The Exorcism starring Russell Crowe (no Popes in this one), the Lily Gladstone drama Fancy Dance, and the retro drama The Bikeriders.

You can check out the rest of the weekend box office here.