“ Inside Out 2 ” (Disney) in its third week will gross $57.4 million, with “A Quiet Place: Day One” (Paramount) estimating $53 million. The last time two films grossed over $50 million on the same weekend was last July, when “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” opened.
Before that? 2017. This is rare because distributors like to space out films with this potential. Even though it’s not a direct competitor, Paramount likely opted to open its prequel two weeks after Pixar.
No one expected “Inside Out 2” to be this strong at this point ($469 million domestic after only 17 days). This is summer the way it’s supposed to be. Three films opened to over $50 million over four weeks, and “Despicable Me 4” (Universal) opening Wednesday should make it four over five weeks.
It justifies more optimism for the future than we’ve had for a long time. That’s reason to be pleased, but not rapturous. Last year, late May and early June had five films open at or above that level across five weeks.
The last was “The Flash,” which was considered a disappointment at $55 million. However, many of these releases cost much less than that ill-fated DC title. (“Inside Out 2” is an exception.
) “Day One” cost $67 million, “Bad Boys” $100 million. It makes a big difference when studios show a real profit for their efforts. Even with the pending “Despicable Me 4” as competition, “Inside Out 2” is on track for a domestic haul of $600 million or more.
It even has a .
