Thanks to its fabulous 15th anniversary re-release, LAIKA’s cult hit Coraline is on the verge of hitting box office milestones that have eluded even the more accessible modern movies. Coraline was originally released in 2009, when it emerged as a modest hit, considering its general kookiness. But in its re-release, the film exceeded all expectations, delivering numbers bigger than even the recent 25th anniversary re-issue of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. The film’s Monday haul of $1.6 million is actually higher than the $1 million that it made on its first Monday back in 2009.

Coraline’s domestic total now stands at $97 million, while its overseas haul has passed the $50 million milestone. Combined, the film’s global box office haul now stands at $149 million. What this means is that Coraline will almost definitely pass the $100 million mark domestically, and the $150 million mark worldwide. The latter could happen as soon as today. What makes the movie’s performance all the more remarkable is that it opened bang in the middle of a particularly packed period at the box office, with Deadpool & Wolverine, Alien: Romulus, and It Ends with Us satisfying all sorts of demographics. Incidentally, Coraline delivered a better per-theater average on Monday than any movie currently in release. While Coraline‘s PTA stood at nearly $1,100, Alien: Romulus had a PTA of under $1,000 on Monday.

Two animated hits have delivered back-to-back blockbuster results in recent months. Combined, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 have generated over $2.2 billion worldwide. But Coraline was never a regular children’s movie. Directed by the stop-motion legend Henry Selick, the movie tells the story of a young girl who finds a creepy dimension hidden in the recesses of her ominous new home.

Can Stop-Motion Make a Comeback?

Coraline’s success paved the way for LAIKA’s unique brand of handmade animated movies. Some of them were hits, while some weren’t. But all of them — ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link — have been critically acclaimed. LAIKA will return with its latest offering, Wildwood, next year. Selick, on the other hand, last directed Netflix’s Wendell & Wild. Perhaps Coraline‘s success can fuel new interest in stop-motion, a medium that isn’t nearly as popular as it was even as recently as a decade ago, when movies like 9, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Frankenweenie managed to do good business at the box office.

Produced on a reported budget of $60 million, Coraline has a 91% “fresh” approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The movie features the voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, and Dawn French.

via Collider