Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 is coming in at the high range of what we told you last night –$155M domestic– and an overall mind-blowing $295M global, by far the biggest Hollywood movie opening both stateside and around the world YTD besting Dune: Part Two ($182.5M) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire at $194M. As we told you, Inside Out 2‘s domestic opening is the second best ever for an animated movie behind Pixar’s Incredibles 2 ($182.6M). The final domestic gross on this sequel is being projected by rival distribution bosses to easily exceed half billion in the end.
EntTelligence counts 12M admissions for Inside Out 2; the last time a movie pulled in north of 10M people was Barbie at 13M. The average ticket price $12.53 while the average ticket price for kids was $10.36. On par with a blockbuster Pixar movie, Inside Out 2 played strong throughout the day with 22% before 1 p.m., 35% between 1PM to 5PM, 26% between 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and 17% after 8 p.m.
At a current draw of 36% Hispanic and Latino, Inside Out 2 is more diverse than any other Pixar movie outside of Coco. It’s quite evident in this box office environment that if you want a hit, a studio needs to double down on a multi-cultural audience, because that’s the way to ensure great walk-up business. That said, I understand pre-sales began increasing for Inside Out 2 last Monday. Updated PLFs and Imax drove 43% of business with another 14% from 3D. AMC Dine-In Disney Springs in Orlando, FL remains the biggest grossing cinema for the pic in the nation with a near $300K and counting.
The 360 marketing campaign by Disney zeroed in on introducing the new emotions of Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui. It also highlighted humor in trailers and prioritized theatrical appeal to moviegoers so they wouldn’t wait around at home for this sequel on Disney+.
Amy Poehler, who plays Joy in the film, was front and center for this movie, and was the only cast member to travel around the world.
The teaser trailer dropped on Nov. 9 last year and garnered 157M views in the first 24 hours, making it Disney’s most viewed animated trailer of all time, besting previous record holders Frozen 2 and The Incredibles 2.
One key to getting people excited about the sequel was Disney previewing the first 35 minutes of the movie at CinemaCon. There was also a college footage tour.
In a first ever for Disney as far as activations go, the Joy and Sadness walkaround characters stepped out of Disneyland Park and into AMC, Cinemark, Harkins, Regal and other theaters during the Memorial Day holiday and opening weekend for surprise meet and greets.
Trailers for the sequel ran on such films as Mean Girls, Wonka, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Exhibitors had custom on-screen content and concession activations among their promotions. AMC offered exclusive LED memory orb popcorn buckets with a character topper and hosted a Father’s Day RealD Fan Event with keychain giveaway on Friday. Regal also had an exclusive LED Anger popcorn bucket and hosted a Pixar Custom Portrait Sweepstakes. Cinemark offered an exclusive premium with purchase of snack tray, blanket and cup, and ran a Walt Disney World Sweepstakes. Marcus Theaters hosted a Superfan Event Character Funko Giveaway (June 15) while Fandango had a Disneyland Ticket Driver Sweepstakes.
In terms of integrated marketing for the film, audiences entered the minds of Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony on ESPN during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals (May 19-June 2). America’s Got Talent had a full-episode takeover exploring all the emotions during auditions — as well as those of Simon Cowell. In addition, the characters Joy and Sadness visited American Idol contestants with a special look at the film.
There was a Stanley Cup Playoff integration that displayed the emotions of the NHL playoffs as narrated by film talent. Also there was an entire Jeopardy category celebrating the film on Oct. 2 with a special greeting from voiceover actor Tony Hale.
Among the promo partners for Inside Out 2 was McDonalds with a Happy Meal program featuring 10 toy collectibles.
Samsung launched its AI Bubble Inside, Laundry Outshine combo exploring tech on the inside with new AI Bubble Technology.
Airbnb welcomed guests to stay and experience the life-size Headquarters in Las Vegas as part of its groundbreaking Icons’ Core Memories of Pixar program, with a roll out that garnered 915M+ home page listing views.
Microsoft integrated the sequel’s characters into a full suite of experiential educational programs including the Minecraft ED “Build Your Joy” coding game, a Code Arcade make-your-own game, and a Reflect EDU page with themed coloring pages and memory game, reaching more than 39M users. The company also lit up Times Square with a custom Microsoft Cube activation.
Joyburst released its premium hydration beverage collaboration with a “random acts of joy” stunt on Natural Joy Day.
Uber Teen Accounts partnered with Disney for a custom animated spot, in-app promotions, and custom Owala Emotional Support Cups gifted with Uber Eats drops.
Bubble Skincare leveraged its reach on TikTok and its influencer program, and over 4k Ulta and Walmart locations to launch a custom skincare line.
Immi ramen developed recipes and recipe content for a custom spot, its influencer ambassador network, and ramen on the street integrations focused on favorite food memories.
Embark dog DNA tests promoted ‘understanding your pet from the inside out’ with a sweepstakes for premiere tickets, with a custom spot, social and digital program emailers, and 20k in-package inserts.
Mango.org supported the movie by running a premiere tickets sweepstakes, offering mango bites at the world premiere, and a “mango” shoutout from Embarrassment voice Paul Walter Hauser following his Emmy win.
And lastly, Casio debuted its G-Shock One Tone watch series in the UK with a campaign pairing the colorful watches with corresponding emotions.
1.) Inside Out 2 (Dis) 4,440 theaters, Fri $62M, Sat $51M Sun $42M 3-day $155M/Wk 1
2.) Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Sony) 3,885 theaters, Fri $8.5M (-60%) Sat $12.1M Sun $12.3M, 3-day $33M (-42%), Total $112.2M/Wk 2, an amazing held besting the second weekend percent ease of Bad Boys for Life (-45%).
3.) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th/Dis) 2,600 (-555) theaters, Fri $1.3M (-10%) Sat $1.9M Sun $2M 3-day $5.2M (-4%), Total $157.8M/Wk 6
4.) Garfield Movie (Sony) 3,411 (-548) theaters, Fri $1.5M (-48%) Sat $1.7M Sun $1.7M 3-day $5M (-47%) Total $78.5M/Wk 4; again, best in franchise stateside.
5.) Watchers (NL) 3,351 theaters, Fri $1.1M (-62%) Sat $1.3M Sunday $1.2M 3-day $3.66M (-48%), Total $13.66M/Wk 2
6.) IF (Par) 3,006 (-576) theaters, Fri $1.07M (-54%), Sat $1.2M Sun $1M 3-day $3.45M (-56%) Total $100.9M/Wk 5; Paramount’s first movie of the year to click past $100M.
7.) Furiosa (WB) 1,874 (-1110) theaters, Fri $625K (-48%) Sat $925K Sun $875K 3-day $2.4M (-42%) Total $63.1M/Wk 4
8.) The Fall Guy (Uni) 1,663 (-747) theaters, Fri $430K (-48%) Sat $600K Sun $470K 3-day $1.5M (-42%), Total $87.9M/Wk 7
9.) Strangers – Part 1 (LG) 1,027 (-989) Fri $257K Sat $291K Sun $212K 3-day $760K (-55%) Total $33.9M/Wk 5
10.) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (NL/Fath) 1,035 (-494) theaters, Sat $642K, Total $3M/Wk 2