Inside Out 2 pulls in $22 million for Pixar on Monday.
Inside Out 2 is still racking up numbers at the box office and it came close to Pixar’s best Monday ever. The $22 million Inside Out 2 managed to pull in yesterday was the second-best in the studio’s history. Pixar’s current record-holder is Incredibles 2 with $23 million earned. Forecasters have the sequel as the clear third-best animated debut of all-time after that massive weekend. Inside Out 2’s worldwide box office currently sits at $333 million after a gigantic Monday showing. Just here in North America, the Pixar movie has already raked-in $176 million and counting. If that weren’t enough for Disney to be smiling, projections have the sequel ready to glean another $70 million this weekend.
Make no mistake, Inside Out 2 faced a lot of pressure before release both internally and from outside critics. However, the initial responses to the latest Pixar movie put a lot of those worries at ease. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie still has a sky-high approval rating among audiences. (Helps explain that massive take.) But, unlike some other heralded releases to start the year, Inside Out 2 basically exploded out of the gates. ComicBook asked director Kelsey Mann about the pressure of a beloved Pixar sequel and he seemed unfazed.
“Yeah, none. No pressure, no pressure at all,” Mann smiled after we asked. “Honestly, feeling pressure at Pixar is nothing new. It’s hard to make great movies. It takes a lot of time, and it takes a lot of pressure. A lot of expectations, especially on a movie like Inside Out where people love it. You’re not the only one who has kind of said that to us. It means a lot to a lot of people outside of the studios, and inside the studios too!”
“Here’s the thing, Pete Docter directed the original film when he was Chief Creative Officer. When he came to me and said, ‘I think there’s potential to do another one. But, if we don’t find anything we’re excited about, we won’t make it,'” he added. “We wanted to make sure we were making a sequel for the right reason.”
Is Inside Out 2 As Good As The Original?
Inside Out 2 has a great chance of eclipsing the original movie at the box office. While ComicBook’s review for the Pixar sequel stops short of calling it a better movie, there are ways Inside Out 2 has the kind of charm and warmth that the studio has made their calling card. If people were worried about the studio’s direction before this, rest assured, things are fine over there. Our Charlie Ridgely calls Inside Out 2 a poignant exploration of puberty and how new emotions have to be embraced to move forward..
“There’s no feeling in the world quite like being proven wrong when you’ve wildly underestimated a movie. There’s something so satisfying about a brilliant piece of art letting you know your doubt was misplaced. When Pixar announced a sequel to Inside Out, it felt so unnecessary, like another Disney cash-grab designed with just the box office in mind,” Ridgely wrote last week. “But I should’ve known better. Pixar has a track record that shouldn’t be doubted, and Inside Out 2 again proved why the studio has been at the top of the animation game for nearly three decades. Inside Out 2, like its predecessor, is a beautiful and poignant film, the kind that only Pixar could’ve produced. And it’s exactly the movie we need at this specific moment in time.”
Have you seen Inside Out 2? Check out all the pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!
