Inside Out 2 breaks the studio’s record, becomes biggest Pixar film of all time

Inside Out 2 introduces the character Anxiety. Photo / Disney

It was revealed a few weeks ago that Inside Out 2 had become the first film to hit the US$1 billion ($1.64b) mark since Barbie. Now, the animation has broken yet another record, becoming Pixar’s biggest film ever.

Pixar likely felt some joy on Wednesday as Inside Out 2 became the animation studio’s biggest film of all-time globally, surpassing the 2018 juggernaut Incredibles 2 to snag the record.

The new film, which opened over the June 14 weekend, crossed US$1.251b in global ticket sales as of Tuesday, according to multiple reports. That total dethroned Incredibles 2, which held the record for the studio at US$2,0418, based on numbers not adjusted for inflation.

Now, Inside Out 2 has its eyes on another record - highest-grossing animated film of all time. It currently sits behind Disney’s original Frozen film US($2.1109b), Illumination and Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie (US$2.2357b) and Disney’s Frozen II (US$2.3868b).

The film could surpass Frozen and Super Mario, though it’s unclear whether it will claim the crown. The film has earned US$79 million in South Korea, which may be a sign of how it will perform in Japan, where it has not opened yet, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Inside Out 2, a sequel to the 2015 film about a young girl named Riley and her emotions, who are seen as characters who help shape her decisions, saw a US$255 million in the US on the opening weekend, exceeding expectations. After two weekends, it became the highest-grossing film of 2024 globally, according to Disney.

Inside Out 2 introduces the character Anxiety. Photo / Disney

Pixar’s latest hit isn’t the only animated film to find success at the cinema this summer. Universal and Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 has earned more than US$394 million since it opened on June 30, signalling yet another family-friendly picture to capture audiences.

Inside Out 2 has been a hit with critics. The film currently boasts a 91% score from critics and 96% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A” on CinemaScore, which calculates scores based on viewer reactions to movies soon after release.

The movie has continued to raise discussions about how people handle their emotions, what it’s like for teens to experience puberty and anxiety, and how adults handle such emotions as sadness, joy and nostalgia (all of which become characters in the film).

The deep run by Inside Out 2 is welcome news for Pixar, which has been on a losing streak with its box office releases. In 2020, Onward struggled to gain footing as theatres shut down amid the pandemic. Pixar’s Elemental, which hit theatres in 2023, was one of the lowest box office openings of all time for the company (though it recovered slightly over time). Lightyear, a spinoff to the Toy Story franchise, also failed to impress critics.

Pixar has been teasing a renewed focus on successful franchises for its comeback tour. In June, the company’s president, Jim Morris, told Bloomberg that Inside Out 2 would be a good test run to see if storied franchises had a place in Pixar’s arsenal moving forward. That said, the studio’s next film, scheduled for 2025, is Elio, an original movie about a boy who becomes an ambassador for Earth.