Inside Out 2’s box office takings streak past Dune: Part Two globally, putting Pixar’s sequel on track to the hallowed $1bn mark.
The good news for cinema owners continued this weekend, as Pixar’s follow-up to 2015 classic Inside Out easily leapfrogged Dune: Part Two to become the highest-grossing film of 2024 globally.
Inside Out 2 – already the largest opening of the year in the US – fell just 35% there in its second week of release, with domestic takings now hovering around the $355m mark. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that makes it the best hold for a film opening to $150m or more in history (yes, this sounds niche, but we haven’t seen a box office record in a while, so we’re a bit excited).
Globally, meanwhile, the film’s total now stands at $724m – easily surpassing Dune: Part Two's previous record of $711m after almost doubling its take in its first weekend.
In the UK, though, Disney can’t quite put the bunting out yet – the film’s reported $29.2m here (£23m) still has it a cool $10m (£7.9m) behind Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic. With school summer holidays yet to start, though, expect that lead to disappear sooner rather than later.
It’s not been a bad showing for the rest of the box office, either. Bad Boys: Ride Or Die continues to make healthy profits as the number two film in the US, followed by a decent $10m opening for Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders at the higher end of projections.
2024’s box office takings so far have had plenty of cinema owners quaking in their boots. With high-profile flops like Furiosa and The Fall Guy failing to meet commercial expectations and sails generally at their lowest since 2021, the industry has been in desperate need of a hit to get bums in seats.


Read more: Does Inside Out 2 need to turn Pixar around?
Pixar, too, have been anxious to grab themselves a proper blockbuster. Though Elemental ended up a pretty decent money-maker after a disastrous opening weekend last year, their previous film (Toy Story spin-off Lightyear) ended its run with $226.4 million worldwide against a $200 million budget.
Before that, the studio’s last film to make a profit at the box office was 2019’s Toy Story 4 – though this probably has more to do with Disney’s decision to release the rest on streaming during the pandemic than anything else.
Still, the narrative around Inside Out 2 has been that Pixar had a lot riding on it being a hit – and it’s certainly that. Already the third largest opening weekend for an animated film (behind Frozen II and The Super Mario Bros Movie), the sequel is well poised to benefit from a long theatrical lifespan, with Disney’s six-month cinema exclusivity deal suggesting that box office number will keep ticking up through the summer holidays and beyond.