‘Inside Out 2’ Hits $1 Billion Box-Office at Record Speed

Disney-Pixar’s latest powerhouse sequel has ridden a wave of emotion to new heights this weekend, as Inside Out 2 has become the fastest-ever animated feature to surpass the billion-dollar mark at the global box office. Directed by Kelsey Mann, the CG family feature reached $1, 014.8 billion as of Sunday in just 19 days. In addition to its animation record, Inside Out 2 is also the first movie of 2024 to reach the milestone.

Joy, Sadness, Anxiety, Embarrassment and the rest of Riley’s Brain HQ crew powered past the previous animation record set by Walt Disney Animation Studios’ own pre-COVID sequel release, Frozen II (2019), which hit $1 billion in 25 days and reached a worldwide total of $1.454B. Combined, Disney and Pixar now hold eight of the 11 animated films that have reached this box-office height.

The movie also broke records in several overseas markets, becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of all time across Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey; the second-highest animated earner in Italy, Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Philippines and Greece; second-best animated opening in New Zealand ($1.3M/$1.7M with previews); and in the Top 10 highest-grossing animated releases for the Latin America region (No. 3), Mexico (No. 3), Colombia (No. 4), Central America (No. 4), Argentina (No. 5 for admissions), Ecuador (No. 5), Paraguay (No. 5), Philippines (No. 5), Brazil (No. 6), Peru (No. 7) and Bolivia (No. 9). The film’s top five international markets as of this frame are Mexico ($81.9M), U.K. ($40.2M), Korea ($39.2M), Brazil ($39M) and Italy ($31.3M).

The 19-day race to the big B also puts the new Pixar blockbuster on par with members of the live-action-dominated Top 10 fastest list, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017, $1.04B in 19 days, $1.334B total) and last year’s biggest-grossing movie Barbie ( 2023, $1.03B in 19 dates, $1,445.6B total) — the No. 1 fastest, Avengers: Endgame (Disney/Marvel, 2019) sped to it in just five days. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the top animated film of 2023, reached $1.3B in 26 days, wrapping with $1.36B.

Domestically, Inside Out 2 held onto a third No. 1 weekend with $57.4 million, topping A Quiet Place: Day One from Paramount, which pulled an impressive $53M debut stateside ($98.5M globally). Admissions tracker EntTelligence puts the Pixar flick’s draw at 5.1M from Friday to Sunday, for a domestic audience total of 40M movie buffs.

Inside Out 2‘s current domestic total of $469.3M puts it in the Top 5 for highest-grossing toons in North America, nipping at the heels of Toy Story 3 (Pixar, $415M), The Lion King (Disney, 1994, $423M), Toy Story 4 (Pixar, $434M) and Shrek 2 (DreamWorks, $445M).

The film’s momentum will be checked by the release of another popular animated franchise film, Despicable Me 4 (Illumination/Universal), which opens next Wednesday (July 3) and is expected to pull off a five-day box-office heist of $100M, conservatively.

Animated Movies Over $1B

• Frozen II – Disney – 2019 – $1.45B
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie – Illumination – 2023 – $1.36B
• Frozen – Disney – 2013 – $1.28B
• Incredibles 2 – Pixar – 2018 – $1.24B
• Minions – Illumination – 2015 – $1.16B
• Toy Story 4 – Pixar – 2019 – $1.073B
• Toy Story 3 – Pixar – 2010 – $1.067B
• Despicable Me 3 – Illumination – 2017 – $1.034B
• Finding Dory – Pixar – 2016 – $1.029B
• Zootopia – Disney – 2016 – $1.025B
• Inside Out 2 – Pixar – 2024 – $1.015 and counting

[Sources: Deadline, Box Office Mojo, Variety]