‘Inside Out 2’ Debuts a Brand-New Emotion You Didn’t Meet in the New Film
Pixar’s Inside Out 2 debuted over the weekend, and the success of the film has not only put smiles on the faces of Pixar execs and theater chain heads across the country; it has also given way to the debut of a brand-new emotion not seen in the film.
‘Inside Out 2’: Riley’s Story Continues
Pixar’s 28th animated feature film debuted at the box office on Friday. Directed by Kelsey Mann and featuring the voice talents of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Maya Hawke, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, and Ayo Edebiri, Inside Out 2 is the sequel to Pixar’s 2015 film about pre-teen Riley and her changing emotions.
The animated film takes fans inside Riley’s mind into Headquarters, where the emotions–Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear–are at the controls, helping to explain Riley’s feelings and her corresponding actions and behaviors.
Pixar chief Pete Docter wrote and directed Inside Out, using his own daughter, Elie, as the inspiration for Riley’s character. Though the second film was not directed or written by Docter, the animation studio’s chief creative officer was on tap as the film’s executive producer.
‘Inside Out 2’ Shines Bright at the Box Office
and over the weekend, the emotion-packed film amassed more than $155 million in receipts at the domestic box office, earning it bragging rights as the film with second-highest opening weekend among animated films.
It’s quite a shift from the debut of Pixar’s most recent release. In June 2023, Elemental, directed by Pixar alum Peter Sohn to tell the story of his parents’ real-life immigration journey, debuted at the box office–but with far more dismal results.
The opening weekend for Elemental saw box office returns of less than $30 million, solidifying the film’s last-place spot among Pixar’s animated film debuts.
Related: Airbnb Celebrates Pixar’s New Film with FREE STAYS at Headquarters
Then, in August 2023, Pixar’s first-ever rom-com began to experience a rebound, steadily increasing ticket sales to $148 million in North America and more than $425 million worldwide, bringing the film’s total box office receipts that year to more than $500 million.
‘Inside Out 2’ Brings Millions to the AMC Box Office
Inside Out 2 helped to draw nearly four million moviegoers to AMC movie theaters over the weekend, according to the chain’s CEO, creating the two best days of the year for the movie theater chain.
Despite a disappointing start to 2024 at theaters, opening weekend for Inside Out 2 included two of AMC’s best days in 2024. That’s because on each day of the weekend–Friday, Saturday, and Sunday–more than one million people went to the movies at an AMC theater. In all, 3.8 million moviegoers saw a film at an AMC theater over the weekend.
Attendance at AMC theaters on Friday, June 14, marked a new record for the theater chain, as that day saw the most moviegoers of any day in 2024 so far. But that record was quickly broken only 24 hours later, when Saturday, June 15, brought even more moviegoers to AMC theaters across the country.
It’s All Good News For AMC Theaters
The opening weekend for Pixar Animation Studios’ Inside Out 2 was also an extremely strong second weekend for another film.
Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, debuted at the U.S. box office on June 7, 2024. Though it received mixed reviews from critics, the film garnered nearly $57 million during its opening weekend and has amassed more than $215 million worldwide–not bad for a film with a $100 million production budget.
The weekend was AMC Theaters’ busiest since last summer, and attendance was double that of the second weekend of June 2023, when Warner Bros. The Flash and Pixar’s Elemental disappointed moviegoers and theater chain execs alike.
Other films that attracted moviegoers over the weekend included Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which grossed $5.2 million, The Garfield Movie, which grossed $5 million, and John Krasinki’s IF, which grossed $3.5 million.
A New Emotion Makes Its Debut
Though relief is not one of the many new emotions to which fans were introduced over the weekend in Pixar’s newest release, Inside Out 2, it’s definitely one of the emotions likely experienced by the CEOs and investors affiliated with movie theater chains across the country, to say nothing of the execs and production team at Pixar Animation Studios.
“Only fools believe that movie theatres are dead, AMC CEO Adam Aron tweeted.
https://twitter.com/CEOAdam/status/1802701120868843548
The year 2024 has been a slow one for the box office, creating trouble for AMC Theaters, as well as other theater operators. The actors’ and writers’ strikes of 2023 significantly delayed the production of several films and television shows. The strikes, in addition to the growing competition between movie theaters and streaming services, have ultimately led to lower turnout at the theaters in recent months.
Together, Inside Out 2, with a little help from Sony Entertainment’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, have, as one outlet describes it, “taken theaters off life support.”
And that’s got to have theater operators oozing with the emotion of relief, even if it wasn’t one of Riley’s new emotions in Inside Out 2.
