Dominating the box office with a record-breaking $136.2 million is Pixar’s animated sequel Finding Dory.
Exceeding all analyst expectations, Finding Dory is breaking records left and right. On Friday, the film grossed $55 million – the biggest single day for an animated movie ever. With its epic weekend numbers, Dory ranks as Pixar’s largest opening ever (besting 2010’s Toy Story 3 with $110.3 million), and as the largest opening weekend record for an animated film (besting DreamWorks’ Shrek the Third in 2007 with $121.6 million).
“Finding Dory just showed total domination this weekend,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “The Finding Nemo brand has been building with audiences for 13 years, first on the big screen and then on the small screen. That set the stage for this spectacular debut, bigger than anyone expected.”
Moviegoers, who were 62 percent women and girls, gave the film an A CinemaScore, while critics gave it a strong 95 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes. With Ellen DeGeneres voicing the lovable-but-forgetful lead character, “it was girl power all the way,” says Dergarabedian.
The weekend’s other new wide release was New Line’s buddy comedy Central Intelligence, starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, in second place with an impressive $34.5 million.
“That’s a good showing,” says Dergarabedian. “Central Intelligence was great counter-programming against Finding Dory and a strong option for audiences who were not animated film fans.” The film received an A-minus CinemaScore from moviegoers and a 66 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics.
“These two guys are just so funny together,” said Jeff Goldstein, domestic distribution president at Warner Bros., said of Johnson and Hart.
Third place went to last weekend’s box office champ, New Line’s The Conjuring 2, with an additional $15.6 million. The horror film has accumulated $71.7 million domestically.
Rounding out the top five is Lionsgate’s Now You See Me 2 falling in fourth place with $9.7 million, followed by Universal’s Warcraft in fifth place with a $6.5 million finish. The illusionist thriller tallied up a total of $41.4 million domestically, while the video game adaptation has produced $37.7 million since its debut.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: June 17-19
- Finding Dory — $136.2 million
- Central Intelligence — $34.5 million
- The Conjuring 2 — $15.6 million
- Now You See Me 2 — $9.7 million
- Warcraft — $6.5 million
- X-Men: Apocalypse — $5.2 million
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows — $5.2 million
- Me Before You — $4.2 million
- Alice Through The Looking Glass — $3.6 million
- Captain America: Civil War — $2.3 million
