Don’t listen to Variety, they are lowballing the potential opening weekend numbers for “Inside Out.” Their domestic estimates have it at $80-85M, but it’ll be more like $100M. Bank on it.
This sequel, which carries a $200M budget, is going to be huge — expect a ton of walkups over the weekend. The first one was released in 2015. A lot of kids that grew up with the first film are now in early adulthood and will be buying tickets for this one.
The first trailer for “Inside Out 2” was released in March. There’s four new characters added into the mix this time around, including Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke. The other three are Embarrassment, Ennui and Envy. The review embargo for the film is set to lift tomorrow afternoon.
Pixar desperately needs this one to be a hit. Firstly, they dumped their movies straight to Disney+ during the pandemic, which devalued the brand and trained audiences to ignore their theatrical releases. Add to that the issues they’ve had on the creative side, none of their recent releases have really quite hit the cultural zeitgeist since 2017’s “Coco.”
There’s also been a ton restructuring going on at the company which recently laid off 14% of its employees as part of Disney’s cost-cutting measures. It was the biggest restructuring in Pixar's history. They’re mightily struggling. Gone are the glory days of artistic triumph that led to landmarks such as “Toy Story,” “WALL-E,” “Ratatouille,” and “Up!”
A recent report by Bloomberg had Pixar’s CCO, Pete Docter, confirming that reboots and sequels will be part of the strategy to revitalize the flagging animation company. No new original ideas, and just rehashed old ones. This plan will only be enhanced by the success of “Inside Out 2.”
“Inside Out 2” is scheduled for release on June 14, 2024.