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Inside Out 2 has surpassed Frozen II as the highest-grossing animated film in history.
The Disney and Pixar film follows 13-year-old Riley as she takes on new emotions – Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, Embarrassment – which go up against the feelings from the first film of Joy, Fear and Anger.
Directed by Kelsey Mann, the sequel added Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, Kensington Tallman, and June Squibb to the cast, with Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith returning.
The film, which released in theatres on 14 June, made $601m domestically and $861m internationally, bringing its total box office earnings to $1.46bn. Inside Out 2 is also the first film since Barbie, from July last year, to make over $100m on its opening weekend.
Among its many records, Inside Out 2 also grossed $1bn in global box office collections faster than any animated film ever. The film has long surpassed the lifetime gross of the 2015 original film Inside Out, which opened with $90m on its opening weekend and made $859m worldwide.
In a four-star review of the movie for The Independent, critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote: “Inside Out 2 is interested more in expanding than redefining its predecessor, but it’s impressive how well even the film’s more familiar elements still work.
“What was once a lesson in the necessity of negative emotions, such as sadness, has now matured into its second stage: a bittersweet, tear jerking reminder that we’re better, more rounded people when we embrace our flaws and insecurities.”
Speaking about Inside Out 2’s box office success, Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, said: “On behalf of movie theatre owners across the country and around the world, we want to congratulate Disney’s Inside Out 2 for grossing $1bn faster than any animated movie in history.
“The film’s stunning global success once again illustrates that audiences the world over will respond to compelling, entertaining movies, and that they want to enjoy them on the big screen.”
Inside Out 2 is in cinemas now.
