By Daniel Welsh
The success of Disney’s Inside Out sequel is showing no signs of slowing down.
Inside Out 2 hit cinemas earlier this month, and quickly surpassed expectations with its box office performance, pulling in $294.2 million (around £232 million) worldwide in its opening weekend.
This set a new record for a Pixar film, overtaking The Incredibles 2, which hit cinemas in 2018.
A week later, Forbes has reported that the film has made a total of $725 million (more than £572 million), making it the highest-grossing film of 2024.
The recent sequel to Dune previously held this record, after making $711 million (around £561 million).
Forbes has also predicted that Inside Out 2 could become the first film to cross the $1 billion mark since Barbie last year.
This marks something of a turnaround for the studio, after the lukewarm critical and box office performances of recent films like Wish, Strange World and Elemental, as well as several Marvel properties.
Inside Out 2 picks up the story of the original film two years later, and reintroduces viewers to a now-13-year-old Riley and the emotions that live inside her head – Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust.
This time around, though, they’re joined by some more nuanced new additions, voiced by the likes of Ayo Edebiri and Stranger Things’ Maya Hawke.
And while Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black from the first Inside Out are all back for the sequel, Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader have been replaced as Disgust and Fear.
Last year, Disney CEO Bob Iger told the corporation’s employees that the studio would be “leaning into our unrivalled brands and franchises” more with upcoming projects, meaning more sequels are in the pipeline.
Among them are Moana 2, due for release later this year, as well as Toy Story 5, Zootopia 2 and Frozen parts 3 and 4.
Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/inside-out-2-sets-new-record-previously-held-dune_uk_667954bbe4b07e40fd2c8e8d