Finally a joy at the North American box office. Anticipated by a massive advertising campaign, positive reviews and high fan expectations, Pixar’s latest film, Inside Out 2, gives Disney and exhibitors in the United States and Canada the best theatrical debut of a rather poor 2024 so far. Protagonist Ripley, now a teenager, and her band of mixed emotions take home $155 million over the weekend, including $56 million on Friday alone. The new cartoon undermines the science fiction blockbuster Dune 2, which with an 82 million debut held the record for the year, and becomes the first title to exceed nine figures in domestic takings since July, when Barbie arrived at the cinema, with her 162 million dollars. The data from the 38 foreign countries in which the sequel by Kelsey Mann has already been released is equally positive (in Italy you have to wait until June 19th): the earnings in the three days amount to 140 million, for a total haul of almost 300 million dollars . Otherwise, the weekend sees no new releases among the five most watched films. Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the Sony film that marks Will Smith’s return to the big screen after his slap to Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, occupies second place, with grosses of $33 million. The cop duo of Smith and Martin Lawrence returned to theaters for the fourth time ten days ago and have so far amassed $112 million, according to Deadline and Variety estimates. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, in theaters for a month and a half for Disney and 20th Century, returns to the podium, with a further 5.2 million dollars, for a gross of almost 158 million dollars in North America. With families lining up for Inside Out 2, Garfield: The Tasty Quest drops to fourth place. Sony’s cartoon about the lasagna-eating orange cat earns another $5 million in its fourth weekend on the big screen, for a domestic total of $78.5 million and $217 million globally (it cost $60 million).
The supernatural horror starring Dakota Fanning and directed for Warner Bros by Ishana Night Shyamalan, The Watchers, earned 3.7 million in its second weekend in theaters, for a total of 13 million dollars.
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