Pixar’s ‘Inside Out 2’ Continues to Dominate the Box Office

Disney and Pixar have finally emerged from a hole dug by a series of box office flops! Inside Out 2 is dominating the box office and claiming a 2024 record!

Variety reports that Inside Out 2, in its second week in theaters, has now reached over $285M domestically. The opening week saw the sequel to one of Pixar’s best films rakes in around $250M.

However, the totals are still falling short (at the time of writing) of the $90M+ that The Super Mario Bros. Movie claimed last year. The long-awaited sequel did manage to outperform Dune: Part Two by a few million dollars.

Regardless, it’s good news for the animated movie genre! The good fortune may also be needed for Disney/Pixar to reevaluate its approach to future projects.

As you can see from our Charting Pixar story, the legendary animation studio really needed this win! In comparison, Pixar’s Elemental (2023) only made around $154M during its entire theatrical run in the US.

Why is Inside Out 2 resonating with audiences? What did this film do that’s different?

It’s sticking with a formula that worked. The sequel may be a retread with a few more characters stuck in, but the Herman’s Head premise is just high-concept enough to be enjoyable for adults and kids.

The film does take a few risks, but overall, it is almost a remake of the first but with new emotions. This is odd, considering Joy learned the same lesson as in the 2015 original.

I guess it’s true. Audiences want things that are familiar but “different.”

Will we get an Inside Out 3? Spoilers – we didn’t get sequel bait this time around. Riley’s story may be done. Knowing Disney, though, the emotions will get milked like Toy Story did.

What did you think of the newest Pixar flick? Let us know!

[Source: Variety]