Inside Out 2 Just Hit A Box Office Milestone Not Seen Since Avengers: Endgame

Disney had a pretty rough year at the box office in 2023, suffering huge flops with films like "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" and "The Marvels." But things are looking up as we enter the second half of 2024, as "Inside Out 2" has already become the highest-grossing movie of the year, dethroning "Dune: Part Two" to take the crown in a mere nine days. In the process, it has managed to accomplish something that no movie has accomplished since 2019 when "Avengers: Endgame" hit theaters en route to becoming (for a time) the biggest movie in history.

Director Kelsey Mann's "Inside Out 2" cleared $101 million domestically in its second weekend, dropping just 35% after its record-breaking opening. It is now just the seventh movie in history to make at least $100 million on its second weekend in theaters. The last time that happened? When "Endgame" pulled in an astonishing $114.7 million on its second weekend in early May of 2019. The Marvel epic ended up pulling in $2.8 billion globally to briefly unseat "Avatar" as the highest-grossing movie ever. The other movies to clear $100 million on weekend two include "The Avengers" ($103 million), "Jurassic World" ($106.5 million), "Black Panther" ($111.6 million), "Avengers: Infinity War" ($114.7 million), and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($149.2 million).

This all bodes well for Pixar's latest, as the animated sequel is on a tear both in North America and abroad. With its latest profitable weekend in the books, "Inside Out 2" has now amassed $725 million worldwide. It will clear the $1 billion mark by early July to become the first movie of 2024 to reach the coveted milestone. Unless "Despicable Me 4" or "Deadpool & Wolverine" can catch Joy and the rest of Riley's emotions, it now looks like this film is going to wind up as the biggest global grosser of the year, barring the unforeseen.

This performance makes it feel like we're back in the pre-pandemic era in some ways. In the years before 2020 came around and shook Hollywood to its core, Disney was the unquestioned king of the box office. 2019 was particularly kind to the Mouse House, with Disney becoming the first in history to pull in $10 billion domestically in a single year. That was driven by other massive hits such as "The Lion King" remake, "Frozen II," "Captain Marvel," "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," "Toy Story 4," and "Aladdin," all of which made at least $1 billion worldwide. Needless to say, things have changed.

We haven't had a "Star Wars" movie in theaters since, the MCU has struggled to gain a surefire foothold in the years after "Endgame" came out, and Pixar has suffered greatly. "Luca," "Soul," and "Turning Red" all were sent directly to Disney+ because of the pandemic, while "Lightyear" bombed in 2022. Were it not for the miraculous turnaround of "Elemental" last year, the company might be in serious trouble. But that, coupled with these monster numbers for "Inside Out 2," have changed the tune.

I spoke more about this on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:

You can subscribe to /Film Daily on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and send your feedback, questions, comments, concerns, and mailbag topics to us at bpearson@slashfilm.com. Please leave your name and general geographic location in case we mention your e-mail on the air.

"Inside Out 2" is in theaters now.